


Lost Child

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: Lost Child [2]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Bigotry & Prejudice, Child Abuse, F/M, Four Shiba Siblings, Gen, Gin & Toushirou - Father/Son (Biological), Isshin & Kaien - Twins, NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo 2013, Physical Abuse, Rangiku & Toushirou - Mother/Son (Biological), Slow Burn, Tragedy, minor Ichimaru Gin/Matsumoto Rangiku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-01
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:47:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 38
Words: 50,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25063372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: When Toshiro was a child Rangiku was supposed to find him and convince him to go to the academy but something prevented her from doing so. Instead of having positive things occur in his life a lot of bad things happen.
Relationships: Aizen Sousuke & Ichimaru Gin, Hinamori Momo/Kusaka Soujirou, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Hinamori Momo, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Ichimaru Gin, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Shiba Kaien, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Shiba Miyako, Shiba Kaien/Shiba Miyako
Series: Lost Child [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815190
Comments: 7
Kudos: 6
Collections: Bleach: Four Shiba, Bleach: Toushirou's Parents Are..., NaNoWriMo 2013, Platonic Relationships, Siblings





	1. Summer Rose

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I don't own Bleach.

A soft breeze blew over the Seireitei as Rangiku sat on the roof of the tenth division sunning herself. She leaned back with her eyes closed, letting the skin warm her skin. A stirring to her side caused the woman to turn her head to see the silver haired man as he sat down beside her, one knee bent up as his arm rested on top, his hand handing down. His other arm was being used to lean on. "How are you doing Ran-chan."

The woman turned her head to look up at the sky. "I don't know. It would be nice if you would for once sit with me and watch a sunset, but you always seem to be taking off on my Gin." If the hand closest to her was the one touching the roof she would have reached out and touched said hand with her own despite the fact the man's hands were painfully bony. "Are you eating enough?"

The man tilted his head slightly. "Where did that question come from?"

"Nowhere I guess. I guess I just worry about you." Rangiku leaned forward so that her busty chest rested on her knees and she stretched her hands out in front of her. "You know Gin, you're my world. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you." Silence came then from the man but the woman had long ago come to understand that the man would never give her a response letting her know that he thought the same.

" _I guess I should just be glad that Gin hasn't ever run off on me when I've come close to telling him that I love him._ "

The silver haired man shifted to a similar position as hers with both knees up. He didn't lean forward though and wrapped his arms around his legs. His normal elongated smile disappeared. "It's not possible for me to be your world."

The woman paused then, turning her head to look at the man. "Why not?" The man remained silent, looking to watch the sun set. Letting out a deep sigh she reached out to touch his boney arm. The fear that he would suddenly go away hit her for some reason. Her fingers brushed against his skin, her fingers feeling how bony his arm was. "Hey... it doesn't seem as if you're eating."

"There you go again."

"I worry about you, you know."

"I worry about you."

Rangiku wasn't sure if these words had slipped out of the man's mouth or not, but she did know that he was careful about what he said. The woman decided to test the waters. "What do you mean about you worrying about me." Silence came then, Gin's secretive nature kicking in. " _Well, I don't know about his past anymore then he knows about mine._ "

" _Is that true though?_ " Her zampaktuo began to pester her about the relationship.

A sudden boldness came to her then. "Hey, Gin... what would you say to starting a family?" More silence came. "The fact you don't answer makes me think that you are avoiding the subject for some reason or that your answer isn't going to be something I want to hear." In the back of her mind she felt the painful thoughts coming out. " _Please. I just want you to give me a positive answer. Is that too much to ask?_ "

"It's just not something I want to talk about right now."

The words stung and the woman let out a deep sigh, she then choose to lean on her hands again. "Why not?" There came silence again. "Come on Gin, tell me."

"Weren't you just complaining about the fact I've never watched a sunset with you? I thought we would have a change of pace right now."

A sudden call from below caused Rangiku to jerk her head down. "Hey! Rangiku! I need to talk to you!"

The woman in question turned her head to see Gin suddenly flinch. "You're jealous, aren't you." The man choose not to answer. "You know... taicho and I don't have that kind of relationship, so you really shouldn't worry about me ending up with him." The man of course remained emotionless. "Are you worried because he's always talking about my chest? Don't you realize that will make me less likely to let him seduce me. As if he would though."

"Hey... Ran-chan... someday we could possibly talk about making a family, but not right now. Perhaps when we finally get to watch the sunset together."

"You're weird Gin." The woman dusted herself off and stood up. "I'm going to go and see what Shiba Isshin wants." The woman of course didn't notice the tension in the other man's body language, but then these had never been noticeable. She hopped down from the roof and walked over to where her taicho was waiting for you.

"I have a mission for you Rangiku!" The man's hand raised up and she found herself letting out a deep sigh. She listened carefully as instructions were given to her, her head looking up at where Gin was only to see that the man had left.

**M**

The busty fukutaicho found herself slipping through the shadows as she approached the cave. The sun had set and the nice breeze had shifted to a cold one. A light drizzle fell at first and then it came in a fast acting torrent. The rocks were covered with moss and she found herself stepping carefully as she walked across them. When she arrived at the scene she waved her hand to motion the three squad members she had brought with her forward.

The inside of the cave dripped down and the slowly moved their way in, trying to not alert the Hollow to their presence. Rangiku leaned up against the wall, her wet uniform chilling her body as well as the earthy coldness of the cave wall. She listened carefully but heard nothing. She moved a bit father into the cave, only to hear a sudden scream from behind her. Turning her head she saw that one of the men had gone down.

"Matsumoto Fukutaicho! I didn't feel the reiatsu! Where is..." Before the second person could say anything they too were taken down.

"Retreat!" She and the one remaining member hurried deeper into the cave.

"We can't escape this way!"

"I know that. I'm hoping that something in the cave will provide some kind of cover for us." Rangiku flinched when she heard another yell and she turned to look at the person who was approaching her. She narrowed her eyes at the man who was now approaching her. Her hand went to her hilt. The man smiled at her and the woman realized there was someone out there with a smile more creepy then Gin. "Aizen..."

"You've already guessed that what was killing your men was no Hollow."

"What do you want from me?"

"I've always been looking for a method to control Gin more then I'm now able to control him."

"Gin..." Rangiku stopped herself from saying that the silver haired man wouldn't do what ever it was Aizen was up to, but then she stopped herself. She then glared at the man. "My taicho knows where I am so he'll send a search party after me."

"Knows where you are? Was it him who sent you?"

"There couldn't be..." Rangiku shook her head. "Taicho would never send me into a trap. You had someone disguise as him. How you did it I don't know, but..."

The woman felt a blade suddenly stick her from behind and she began to lose conciousness.


	2. Winter Rose

His bright teal eyes couldn't help but notice that granny was getting thin as well as the fact he hadn't been growing like he wanted. The boy found himself moody as Momo had come home from school for the break between her fifth and sixth years and had only spoken of Aizen taicho. The girl had payed neither him or their granny any mind and he wondered if she cared.

His small stomach growled indicating that it was in need yet again of being filled which caused him to jump from the room and tell his granny that he was going to get some more of their favorite food. Seeing the old woman's face made it so that he cheered up somewhat. The old woman was the one bright spot in his life and the boy looked forward to her daily smiles.

Stepping across the ground he arrived at the stand to buy some of the coveted candy only to be mistreated yet again. Toshiro hopped a bit so he could reach up and grab the change before hurrying back to see his granny. As soon as he saw the woman he scuttled over to sit right next to her and leaned his head onto her shoulder, handing her the bag.

The old woman carefully opened the bag and with her bony old fingers she reached in and plopped a piece of candy into the boy's hand. He took the sweet to his mouth and closed his eyes, savoring the sweetness. Eating candy with granny was the best thing in the world and it chased away all the thoughts about the pain he constantly suffered. With his eyes still closed Toshiro began to hum and drum his fingers across the wooden floor.

One of the woman's hands reached up and gently combed through his shaggy hair and she began to sing a child's lullaby, causing the boy to relax and not think of anything. There was no thoughts about the villagers bullying him, there was no thought about Momo being infatuated with that particular taicho or begging him to join the academy and there was no thoughts about the fact he beloved his mother and father by blood had abandoned him.

"Toshiro... would you sing me a song."

The boy's eyes snapped open and he moved to a kneeling position facing her. His mouth opened and the words of the traditional song broke from his lips, his mind thinking the simple days would last for ever and ever. Eventually the sun set and he got up to spread his and granny's futons onto the ground before going to bed himself while his granny worked on mending or what ever project kept her up after his bed time hour.

At night the voice would call to him and he would wake up in the morning to repeat the process of day to day life, the mornings beginning with him attempting to sneak out of the room so he wouldn't wake his granny. When he was younger she used to wake before him, but lately he had noticed a strange change that he honestly didn't understand. He would then come back and start the fire for her and she would stir awake to make breakfast.

It was a couple of days later when things changed. He carefully started the fire only to notice that his granny wasn't stirring. His mouth twisted up in worry and he moved carefully over to the old woman. He carefully nudged the old woman's shoulder. "Granny?" The old woman wouldn't stir. He found himself shaking the old woman again. "Granny, please wake up."

Taking a deep breath he looked towards the door. He then stood up. " _Something's wrong. I need to get help_."

Stepping outside he looked around and noticed that the closest place to find help was the house where Momo's friends lived. He slipped his sandals on and hurried over, his small hand knocking on the door as he scrapped his left knee on the wooden porch area. The door opened and the male friend of Hinamori looked out, only to startle upon seeing the boy. "What..."

"Who is it?" The person the two lived with suddenly spoke then.

"It's the boy from next door."

"Tell him to go away."

"You heard our mother. You're not wanted here."

"Wait!" Toshiro's voice strained. A shuffling sound could be heard from inside of the house and the boy moved away.

There appeared a woman and the look on her face caused the small white haired child to swallow. "I told you to go away."

"Granny..."

"Would have come herself. Now go away."

The door closed and Toshiro looked at the ground. Panic set in and he hopped down from the porch and hurried to the next house, only to get the same response as he had before. It occurred a couple more times and his arms went limp at his side. He walked back to the house slowly. Upon arriving he carefully moved over to the woman and shook her again.

When she didn't move he curled up next to her. Her breath came raged and on hand reached out to brush her hair away, only to find that the woman was cold. The boy then got up and hauled his futon over and covered her in attempt to warm her up. " _It's summer. I'm the one whose supposed to get sick, not granny. Do I shiver like this?_ "

Every so often he would try to wake her, but by the time night came around he would retreat to the wall and simply stare at her. " _Why won't anyone come to help?_ "

What food they had remained where it was as Toshiro hadn't the heart to eat the candy or the know how to cook the rest of the food. Instead, he pulled his knees up and after a few days a smell came to his nose that he covered. It was the smell that finally brought someone from their small village to see what was the matter and their words were not at all kind.


	3. Winter Thorns

The sound of sake cups clicked against the table as laughter filled the room. Isshin held his sake cup up to those in the room. "I propose that we start up a men's society."

Kyoraku found himself suddenly choking on his sake. "Now hold on a second. If we were to create a men's society... for which I see no reason for, we would have Nanao chewing us out for being sexist pigs again. I don't mind my cute Nanao-chan calling me a pervert, but do I look like a pig."

"But you're Bonnie-chan's great-uncle. How can you be her uncle and not look like a pig?" Kaien laughed from his brother's side while the eighth division taicho gave them a pretend look of hurt. Ukitake sat next to his best friend and covered his mouth slightly o hide his own mirth.

Isshin continued to hold his cup up to the two older taicho's. "If we formed a men's society it will give Nanao-chan an excuse to create a woman's society and my fukutaicho can have more reason to hit me over the head as Nanao-chan will have more reason to put ideas into her head."

The fukutaicho of the thirteenth division stopped laughing then. "Isshin nii-sama, you're drunk."

"Gotcha!" The tenth division taicho reached out to poke his twin brother in the shoulder. His face lost its mirth and he set the cup down. "No, seriously. My fukutaicho, your fukutaicho, our baby sis... they've all been complaining about how the men treat the women in the shinigami ranks. Nanao has been talking about forming a group, but not a group sanctioned and this would give her an intensive to create said group."

"This was Rangiku's idea, wasn't it?" Kaien leaned forward and placed a hand on his forehead. "This was their idea because she and Miyako couldn't get her to go ahead with the idea."

"Yup! It was their idea and I'm putting it forth to the two people I know can help us get this going!" Isshin's grin was wide and his arms crossed behind his head.

"Us? You're including me in this trouble, aren't you?" Kaien shook his head at his brother. "Learn to do things on your own. You _are_ a taicho for crying out loud."

"You _could_ be a taicho if you really wanted."

"Boys, boys... your mother wouldn't like to see the two of you arguing." Kyoraku smiled at the two. "I actually like the girls plan, particularly since Nanao's still trying to get used to her wings now that she's my fukutaicho."

"And it gives our fukutaicho more incentive to beat us up!" Isshin began to laugh again. Kaien carefully moved from the cushion he had been sitting on and picked it up with both hands. A resounding thump was heard when it made contact with the back of Isshin's head. "Ouch!"

"Seriously... you're a taicho. You're also the head of the Shiba clan. I'm also not your babysitter. I have _enough_ problems with Ganju without you getting any crazy ideas into your head."

Isshin's head turned suddenly as he saw the rain suddenly pouring down outside. A frown crossed his face and he folded his arms across his chest. "Perhaps we should call it a night. The temperature is going to drop and Ukitake doesn't need to be out in this weather."

Kaien let out a deep sigh. "Taicho... we can try waiting until the storm is over, but that may not occur until after the bar has closed for the night and it may get colder before we get back to the division."

"And I'm going back with you!"

"What?" The fukutaicho turned to look at his twin brother. "Why?"

"It's been forever since I've shared a bed with my nii-chan!" The pillow hit the back of Isshin's head.

"I'm starting to wonder if the reason you haven't taken a wife yet is because you're not interested in the opposite sex." Kaien felt Isshin suddenly glomp him around the waist.

"But nii-sama! I don't love you like a mommy loves a daddy or a daddy loves a mommy! I just want my snuggies!"

The fukutaicho of the thirteenth division attempted to pull Isshin off, only to startle when Ukitake spoke to him. "You do realize that he does this to get a reaction from you and he knows he can get away with acting like this in front of us?"

Kaien glanced away. "Still... I'm married."

"I want snuggies from Miyako nee-chan too!" Again the pillow whacked against his brother's head while Kaien's mouth twisted up in frustration.

"Seriously... stop being so clingy!" It was then that fake snoring came from Isshin and Kaien let out a groan. "Fine... you can come stay the night with Miyako and I. Just..."

"Yay!" Isshin pushed himself up and hugged Kaien again, knocking him to the ground and causing him to let out a yelp.

Kyoraku let out a deep sigh. "You would think Kaien would learn that his older brother likes antagonizing him."

"You know I'm right here!"

**M**

When the two arrived at Kaien's place at the thirteenth division Miyako opened the door to find her husband with a sour look on his face while his brother grinned at her. Isshin then held up his thumb. "I've managed to fenagle my way into having late night tea with my beautiful sister-in-law as well as having a sleep over with two of my favorite family memembers."

"Isshin nii-sama. It is always good to see you." Miyako leaned forward and hugged the man despite the fact he was soaking wet.

"What about me?" Kaien glared at the two. "I am your husband."

The woman's response was to head over to a stack of towels and throw one at him. "You're being such a sour puss." The scowl on Kaien's face deepened and his eyebrow's lowered from frustration. Miyako leaned forward, placing a kiss on his wet cheek. "Sour pusses get kisses."

Isshin had already moved over to the center of the room and was messing with certain items. "They said yes and they think said plan should work."

"Thank you so much nii-sama!" The female clapped her hands together.

Kaien let out a deep sigh. "How come you didn't come to me for help?"

"Because sour pusses will be sour pusses and you would sour puss all over their idea because it is so _radical!_ " A towel launched by Kaien hit him in the face and he flopped backwards onto the bamboo mats.

"I'll go and pull out an extra futon." His brother began to move to the other room.

Isshin paused, pulling the towel from his face. "Wait... there are already two futons spread out. Don't you two share a futon?"

Tension filled the room then. Kaien took a deep breath. "I'll go and get another futon."

The taicho of the tenth sat up, the towel wrapped around his shoulders. "Miyako... you and Kaien aren't having a fight."

"No... well, sort of. I think he blames himself."

Isshin glanced at the floor. "About that? Is that why he was so down lately? Kyoraku and Ukitake both noticed as well."

"It would be really nice to hear the sound of small feet around here, but it would be nicer to hear the spring back in his step. It's best that we have our tea and go straight to bed rather then having any sort of conversation right now."

The three headed back to bed. In the morning their came a knock on the door. Kaien went to get the door. "Shiba Taicho... someone is here with a message for you."

Isshin let out a sigh and scuttled over, turning his head to see that Miyako was woken up. He scratched his rear end and looked at the bundle that was in the man's hand. The person then carefully unwrapped the object. "The head taicho really needs to talk to you Shiba Taicho."

Kaien pulled short. "Isshin... I'm going with you."


	4. Poisoned Thorns

When Gin heard Isshin's voice he felt a feeling of jealousy crop up, causing him to push his lips together as well as flinch. " _You know just as she said that they have no feelings for each other._ "

The man moved away from the roof. " _Doesn't change the way I feel._ "

He headed back to the fifth division, his arms folded across his chest. He found himself purposefully moving about to avoid running into anyone. He arrived at the division and headed straight to his quarters without noting the sun setting and the light painting the area. He slipped straight into the room and sat down against the wall, his head looking up at the ceiling. One bony arm rested against his forehead.

Letting out a sigh he dug out a box he kept hidden in a small corner and dug out the sake bottle as well as the stuffed animal that he had planned a long time ago on giving someone. Narrowing his eyes he touched the soft texture and remembered how he hadn't ever had the chance to give this item to the person in question.

" _Why did I bring this out of all things?_ "

" _Because Rangiku brought up the fact she wants to have a family, so of course you would think about that._ "

He then put the stuffed animal back in its place, glad that if it was ever found it could be explained as a gift he had planned on giving Rangiku. He closed up the hidden place and opened up the bottle of sake and began to drink the contents down, sulking about how things worked out the way they were. He remembered saying something to Shinso.

" _It may not be that I'm jealous of the fact they like each other because as you said I know it isn't true. I'm jealous of how they're able to interact with each other._ " What point he drifted off he honestly didn't know, but the alcohal made it so that he was out. It was though as if he had to get up in the morning for work as he had the day off. That was why he went to visit Rangiku. He had time off and wanted to be with her, particularly since he couldn't be with that person.

He sat up, his head hurting. He walked over the door and opened it up, blinking a couple of times as the bright light hurt his eyes. "I'm supposed to have the day off so I thought I would sleep in. What is going on?" Gin paused, realizing that the person standing in front of him was Isshin.

The look on the man's face wasn't good and it seemed as if the man had something he dreaded telling him. This was in turn confirmed by his words. "I need to talk to you about something Gin. Can we sit."

Gin's eyes opened up and the frown on his face increased. "Sure, why not. Make yourself at home. You've always been really good at doing that. The silver haired man sat down on the futon and watched as Isshin sat down. He looked up at the ceiling and didn't notice the man take something out of his sleeve.

Isshin let out a cough. "I need to show you something."

The silver haired man looked down at the bundle that the taicho of the tenth division unwrapped. Gin couldn't help but swallow upon seeing the bloody lieutenants bade that was the man's hand. He glanced away. "Why would you think I would want that?"

"Gin..." The head of the Shiba clan let out a sigh. "Ichimaru, I know that you try hiding your feelings for Rangiku, but I'm not blind to the fact the two of you care about each other."

"Didn't you send her on some mission?"

"What mission?" When Gin turned to look at the other man he saw that Isshin had a confused look on his face. "I know that you're looking for someone to blame, but the truth of the matter is I didn't send her on a mission recently. I'm guessing while I was out last night she got some kind of message and went out to try and help someone, but I'm not honestly sure."

" _He didn't send her... which means._ " The silver haired man glanced at the ground. "Why though give this to me?"

"Gin... Rangiku is dead."

"Where is her body?" The man felt his hands tighten. " _I need to bury her even if he's trying to pretend that she is dead._ "

"There was no body. The assumption is that the Hollow defeated the minor Shinigami that were with her and proceeded to devour her. You know that..."

"I can't believe she is dead because of this." Gin stood up. "I'm going to go and look for her. I need to find her."

"The place this was found had a bloody mess Gin. We're lucky to find this."

" _Lucky because he wants me to know. I have to go looking for her even if I didn't know what I know._ "

"I spoke with the head captain and he's come to the agreement that since we can't find her body or spiritual pressure..."

"And the hollow?"

"They've sent some people out after it, but so far they have found nothing. We need to wait..."

"You're not one to wait for more information. I'm going to go and look for her. I _have_ to look for her."

"I'll think up some excuse for your taicho."

"Just..." Gin paused, a frown spreading on his face. "Don't tell him that I've been told yet."

"I won't."

"Particularly _since I have the feeling he is behind this._ " Gin took a deep breath before slipping out of the room, the pain in his heart aching. " _Of course, it could be that all my plans are ruined beyond repair. I need to try and find her. He_ _can't_ _have taken her away. I kept our relationship secret. He was supposed to think we were only child hood friends or school mates, or something like that._ "


	5. Poisoned Wounds

The child sat against the wall of the house with his knees pulled to his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs. His nose was buried between his two knees in an attempt to block out the smell. His vision was fuzzy as he focused on the old woman, his mind focused on the fact not a single adult was coming to help them despite the fact he had honestly asked for help.

The sickening feeling wouldn't go away. " _Is it something I've done that has made granny ill?_ " The sound of the door opening caused his eyes to dart from where his granny was to the entrance of the house. He heard someone speaking but choose not to move. " _Maybe they'll help granny._ "

"What is that smell?" A masculine voice soon became matched with the face of one of the villagers. The person looked around, noticing where granny was and then turning to look at the boy who was sitting against the wall. Toshiro noticed the look of disgust on the man's face and watched as he slid back out, closing the door as he did.

The boy startled then, moving forward so that he was forced to smell what he had come to call the sickness because that was when bad smells occurred. His knees scrapped against the floor as did the palms of his hands. His body shook as he stared at the door and his lip trembled. " _Why? Why can't they stop and help._ "

A painful feeling came to his chest and he hurried to the door, pushing the door open. "Wait!" The boy hurried forward, tripping on the ground as he did so, his foot twisting a bit. Despite the pain he got up and grabbed the sleeve of the one man's kimono. "Wait! Granny..."

The man's hand suddenly back slapped him, causing him to tumble backwards, his lip split from the blow. He back peddled a bit but then simply stopped short, the pain in his chest going away. The two strangers disappeared from where he was and his hands gripped the dirt. One part of him told him to go back into the house, but another part made him feel like not moving as doing so didn't seem to achieve anything.

He continued to stare at the ground, his lips pushed together as a small trickle of blood dripped down. His head jerked up when he heard the sound of people approaching. Toshiro's small mouth dropped when he realized that quite a few members of the village. The looks on their faces caused him to realize that they were not happy about something.

The boy lifted himself up from the ground and began to move back to the house, the first few steps causing him to limp but they became steady as he moved more. He then turned once he arrived at he house and noticed that the adults were heading towards the house and he found himself letting out a strange sound before he moved to evade them, heading to the side of the house.

He leaned against the wall as his body shook, the tips of his fingers being scratched by the wood. His teeth gritted together and his head darted down, some of his hair hanging in front of his eyes. Three of the men headed to the house while another came around the corner, causing the boy to look up at the man. Toshiro opened his mouth, asking if they would help granny, only to find nothing coming out.

The sound of raised voices came from inside of the house and he closed his eyes. The men stepped out of the room. One of them let out a deep sigh. "The old woman is dead."

Toshiro startled, panic setting in. His head shook back and forth and he tried to speak, only to find his throat tight and dry due to not drinking anything the last couple of days. " _She can't be dead! She was just alive the other day!_ " The child could feel tears and snapped his eyes shut. " _I won't cry, not in front of strangers._ "

Another of the men spoke. "It's the boy's fault."

The child froze, looking up at the adults. His entire body trembled. One of the men looked at him, the man's eyes filled with disgust. "I don't know how he did it, but he managed to kill the old woman. And this after everything she's done for the brat."

The boy pulled back slightly from the men, his eyes narrowing. The man who had chosen instead to approach him decided to shove Toshiro into the wall, causing the boy to fall to the ground. He felt a rough kick in his ribs which caused him to curl up and defend his head as more blows. One of the other men joined in and he then felt himself yanked up and is head shoved into the wall.

A cracking sound was heard as his skull made contact with the wall and he felt himself blacking out. When he came to his entire body continued to shake but he at first couldn't see anything. His hand reached out to touch something, anything. What he ended up feeling was his hand being kicked back. Opening his eyes he saw that he was back in the house.

In the middle of the room was his grandmother with a white cloth over her. His eyes narrowed and he felt a few tears escape from his eyes. He then found himself watching as people came and left. He noticed the mother of the two kids from next door come in and he looked at her, his mouth twisting downward. " _Why is it that adults are so cruel? Why is it that people are so cruel?_ "

His eyes closed and he tried focusing on happy thoughts, but the fact they were talking about him caused him to open his eyes again. "That boy... while he was asleep the temperature changed."

"We should send for Shinigami.. they'll take care of him for us."

" _What does taking care of me mean?_ " Toshiro attempted to lift his head up.

"He deserves to be executed for his crime."

" _Crime?_ "

Another voice in his head, the voice that had been in his dreams choose to spoke then. " _You need to run._ "

The boy pushed himself up and began to slowly crawl towards the door, hoping that none of the adults noticed that he was trying to escape. " _What about granny_?"

" _Granny wouldn't want you to die._ "

This sudden realization for some reason gave him strength and he lifted himself up. It was right then that he heard one of the men suddenly snap the words out. "Hey!"

The next thing that happened was that he pushed off with his injured foot but didn't allow the pain to make him scuttle away from the house. He then took off running despite the pain in his foot, his body causing him to make a quick turn at the corner of the house to head in that direction. He found his feet continually hitting the rough ground. He could hear shouting from the adults as he sped away. He finally came to a wooded area and dove in.

To his advantage it was dark out, but this was also to his disadvantage as he hadn't a clue which direction he was going. When he finally lost the adults he found himself digging in at the base of a tree and shivering. " _Momo-nee?_ " There came a pause in his thought. " _I don't know how to find her."_

The next thought that crossed his mind was painful. " _I was right. I had something to do with granny being sick. I don't know what I did, but I hurt her._ " The boy tucked his head into his knees in an attempt to get some sleep, his senses alert in case the adults came near him. The voice was right about one thing. Granny wouldn't want him dead, but he did feel like he wanted to die.


	6. Burning Wounds

The song of a bird and warm sunlight caused Momo to open her eyes. The small female sat up and stretched her arms into the air. She glanced around to speak with the girls she shared the dorm with only to stop short upon realizing that they weren't there. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened into a circle of panic. Pushing back the sheets she pushed her legs out of the bed.

The clothes she wore during the night were tossed aside and she slipped on the school uniform and then the shoes. She grabbed her bag forgetting her homework and realized this fact only after she was already running at a fast pace. She stopped to turn back in order to get the papers, only to stop when she realized that she'd rather not have her homework then be late.

She took off again only to have her sandal break which in turn caused her to go tumbling head over toe making it so that her already messy hair became even more messy. She began to bounce up and down when the bell for first classes rang. She looked up with her eyes wide. "And I'd been doing so well to be on time this year."

The small female suddenly jumped when she heard the voice of the teacher from behind her. "Hinamori Momo?"

The girl spun around to see the head master of the academy looking at her with a rather serious look on his face. "I'm sorry for being late. I'm sorry for not making my bed. I'm sorry for my uniform being in such disarray. I'm sorry for forgetting my homework again."

"What we need to is more important. Please come to my office."

"Please tell me I'm not being kicked out."

"This matter is more serious then that."

Momo blinked a couple of times before bending over and retying the broken strap to the best of her ability. " _Am I being selected to help teach one of the first year classes. That would honestly make my day._ " They arrived at the office to see Tatsukichi standing there. Momo blinked a couple of times. "Te-chan... what are you doing here?"

"You're needed back home Momo. Something has happened to your grandmother." The boy glanced at the floor. "I've explained things to the head master."

"You'll be given time off from school Hinamori. Take care of things at home and then come back."

The small female turned to follow the male back to her village when she remembered something. She turned to the head master. "Would you please tell Renji and Izuru where I am so they don't worry about me?"

"I will do that."

The two began to walk back to the village at a brisk pace. "What ever is the matter with granny?"

The boy remained silent. "You're granny has passed away."

Momo stopped short, her right hand coming up to her mouth and her eyes widening in horror. "Te-chan... whose taking care of Shiro-chan?"

The boy paused then, turning his head to look at her. "Your little brother has gone missing."

"Why?" The small female shook her head. "Never mind." The small female made to move faster, only for the strap on her sandal to give way again. Bending down she removed the sandals and then the socks. "I don't have time for this."

The academy student took off at a run, only to find herself out of breath without coming anywhere near the village. Momo bent over, feeling the tears well in her eyes. "Why?" Why did something have to happen to granny and Shiro-chan? If I had never joined the academy he would at least not have run off like he did. Why?"

Her tears hit the ground, soaking in as she tried to comprehend what was going on. She then walked quietly back with her companion, staring at the ground as she did so. Tears continue to trickle down her face. She arrived to see many from the village gathered around her house. She folded her hands with her sandals still in them and walked up to her village elder. "What happened?"

One of the villagers spoke then. "Your little brother killed your granny."

Momo's eyes went wide. "What do you mean he killed granny? Shiro-chan wouldn't hurt someone on purpose!"

The village elder waved at the women who were preparing the old woman's body for funeral purposes as well as burning incense to drive away the smell. The man turned to her. "He didn't kill her on purpose. The child' reiatsu froze her to death."

A man who was lurking spoke out of turn. "That child should be put to death."

"Hold on!" Momo bent down, the tears coming in heavy sobs. "Shiro-chan is... he... how could he freeze her to death with his reiatsu?"

"It's honestly to bad the academy doesn't take children that young."

"But surely they could have made an exception."

"That child is a monster! We've know that since the day he was left with the old woman."

"She's now paying for that."

The village elder grabbed Momo's shoulder and walked her away from the house to sit down. "I'm sorry about this. The rest of the village up to now were really good about hiding their dislike of that child from you."

"But the entire village even you didn't like him?"

The elder let out a deep breath. "That child... your little brother. There are certain children out there that have monstrous amounts of power like he has that end up being not just a danger to others but to themselves. People stayed away from him because strange things always happened around him."

"But where is he? Did he run off because people falsely accused him of murder."

"No. A few of the men beat him when they found your granny dead. Then when he came too some of the villagers talked about how the Shinigami should execute him."

Momo began to cry harder then. "But he hasn't committed any crime! He's just a little kid. Please! Look for him."

"Who is going to take care of him? None of the people in the village want anything to do with him. You are in the academy and have a year left to go."

"I'll drop out! I'll drop out, so please just find him."

The village elder shook his head. "I will have the villagers look for him, but if we manage to find him you need to find a Shinigami who is willing to adopt him."

"I don't understand."

"He needs someone who can earn money to feed him, cloth him not to mention the fact he needs someone who isn't effect by his reiatsu. Just get him away from this village."

"You do understand that after this I have no reason to come back." Momo's hands tightened around her pant legs.

Tatsukichi blinked a couple of times. "Wait... why not?"

"I can't handle the way everyone's treated him. The real reason you... all of you... didn't want me to know that you were treating my brother the way you did is because you all know very well that you are wrong for treating him the way you have."


	7. Burning Heart

The small child startled awake and looked around. It was early morning and he found himself looking around trying to figure out where he was. His body ached from sleeping on the cold ground. The child pushed himself up and stood, looking around. " _Where am I?_ "

" _Outside._ "

" _Why am I outside?_ "

" _You don't remember._ "

The child took a deep breath remembering what had occurred the previous days. " _I want Momo nee-chan._ "

Looking around he choose to walk in one random direction, continuing in the same direction that he had been heading the night before. As he walked he got deeper and deeper into the woods and he wrapped his arms around himself. He glanced around looking at the place, his mind in a fog. He glanced up upon sensing a creature, his eyes going wide with wonder despite the fact his entire body hurt.

The child saw a wild boar and his mouth opened as he remembered that the wild boars were known for tearing a person to pieces if said person wasn't careful. For some reason though the boar ended up heading in the other direction away from him, almost as if the boar feared him like the people in the village did.

Around mid day the boy found a pool of water and plopped down to the ground, again scrapping up his hurting body more then it was before. He leaned forward into the pond, his tongue touching the water. When the nice, cold substance touched his tongue he leaned forward and lapped up the water, filling his stomach.

It was then that he found himself having to lean back after the fact and wait. He closed his eyes, wishing that someone would find him, only to jolt as he remembered the beating he had received from the villagers before. Pushing himself up despite the fact his body was stiffening he continued heading in the direction he had been heading before.

He arrived at the other edge of the woods and blinked a couple of times as he came across another village, this one being bigger then his own. He sat down to rest, staring at the place wondering if it would be safe to go into the village. If he got the same reaction as he had before he wondered if things would be as painful as they were before, or even worse.

Toshiro felt his stomach growl and pushed himself up just as the rain fell down. Looking up he closed his eyes, remembering how it had rained around a week ago and how good the rain had felt on his skin. Instead of feeling good though the rain chilled him to the bone and he knew something was wrong. He began to stagger over to the group of houses, only to find himself suddenly collapsing against the wall as soon as he reached the first house.

His body slid into the mud as his body continued to shiver and shake. His eyes glazed over and he turned himself so that he could look out for people from his village who might come and hurt him again. The eyes though couldn't remain open and one head remained on his stomach while the other rested in the mud.

Memories flickered across his mind in a feverish manner and he could feel his breath coming in a raged manner. The first memory that he found himself focusing on was Momo eating watermelon. He remembered smiling at her and granny bringing more. That was when Momo began talking about how Aizen was the best taicho ever.

" _Shiro-chan! Aizen can do anything. Aizen can do everything._ "

" _Why doesn't Aizen come and rescue me? Why don't you come and rescue me. Are you to busy spending time with Aizen?_ "

" _Of course I am silly. I am spending lots of time with Aizen and my new friends. I don't have time to spend time with a silly boy who happened to kill my granny. How could you do that to me? Why should I rescue you?_ "

Toshiro found himself startling then and waking, hot tears rolling down his cheeks. " _Momo nee-chan. Am I really that bad of a child?_ "

" _You didn't mean to._ "

The child couldn't help but drift off then. He sat there talking to his grandmother and singing her song. He found himself smiling constantly, and his small hand reaching out to touch her bony hand. His eyes closed for a few minutes, but when he opened them he found himself staring into the face of someone without sockets and found himself jarring awake again, his stomach hurting.

The boy turned over and vomited the contents of his stomach up, his mind going numb from the pain. " _Why can't someone just find me_? _"_

Then next memory had him feeling himself in the lap of someone. The person was warm, which made him wonder if he was in fact dying and he was thus dreaming something that was peaceful. However, his mind began to focus on the fact the person waved a toy in front of his face and two chubby hands reached out to grab the item.

" _Warmth... safety..._ " He found himself thinking of these things. He then saw the back of someone and he found his hands reaching out for the person. " _To-chan! Come back!_ " The boy reached his hand out. " _Don't leave me like Momo nee-chan and granny did. Let me reincarnate too_." He thought at first that the person would turn and leave him but instead the person came back."

" _Don't worry. Don't worry Shiro-chan._ " Toshiro's eyes opened then but he was unable to see anything. His body was still soaked from the rain and on arm hung down to his side. He opened his mouth to say something as he heard the sound of a man and woman startling at the site of him, but he found himself drifting back to sleep.


	8. Broken Heart

"Just... don't tell him that I've been told yet." Gin slipped away as Isshin made his promise and headed out looking for his female companion.

" _She is more then that you know. She is honestly and truthfully your lover._ "

" _It isn't as if she remembers that._ "

" _Well... obviously Aizen has figured that out. I wonder what he'll do to her considering the fact he is far more of a sadistic bastard then you are, though we're some of the few who know that._ " The man choose to ignore the comment and simply kept moving. He paused upon realizing he hadn't received any instructions on where the bodies were found.

Slipping into the shadows he leaned against a wall listening to the gossip, his mind hearing that a hollow had been sited to the eastern part of the Rukon and that it had a taste for the flesh of women. Gin of course headed in that direction and kept his hand on his blade, his mouth twisted up into a frown. " _He's really put a lot of effort into this._ "

" _Maybe he turned her into a Hollow._ "

" _He hasn't been successful in that regard. No... that would have caused a different kind of disturbance. I do get the feeling he wants to see if I'll be drawn to that area or not._ "

" _You're playing right into his hand._ "

" _I know full well that I am playing right into his hand. At this point though I haven't come up with a better plan."_

When Gin arrived in the eastern part he found himself again slinking into the shadow. A few Shinigami were about and he figured it was their job to investigate the matter. He watched as the Shinigami walked about as if they had no care in the world and the villagers spoiled them as saviors despite the fact they had yet to do anything to relieve the village of their problem. Thus no questions were being asked.

" _You could try bullying the villagers since the tactic of using a honeyed tongue won't work in this situation._ "

" _That won't work either. There is also a chance though that he wants me to believe that this is the direction that he brought Rangiku and he's instead buying time to hide her away somewhere._ "

" _Then why don't you go in the other direction and search the other side?_ "

" _Because there are no clues. I'm at a disadvantage in the fact he can hide himself so very well. In the long run I'm going to have to work harder to stop his plan from working in order to rescue her._ "

" _It needs to be a quadruple measure instead of a double measure of working hard because he knows that you are onto him._ "

" _Perhaps not._ " Gin leaned against the wall. A sudden scream from a woman caused him to hurry around the corner, only to find a similar bloody mess awaiting him. " _He's really pulling out all of the stops._ "

" _Perhaps he gave his power to a hollow._ "

" _Why would he..._ " The man paused, his eyes narrowing. The few shinigami came and approached him, worry on their face.

"Ichimaru Fukutaicho... what are you doing here."

"Shouldn't you be..." The man paused, catching the look on Gin's face.

"Shouldn't I be what?" Gin's smile twisted up into a smirk. "Pray tell me what you think I should be doing?"

"Fukutaicho Matsumoto..."

The silver haired man stood up straight, his arms behind his back. "You think I should be mourning her and attending her funeral?"

"Cold bastard..." One of the two muttered.

"...rather then being out looking for the Hollow that killed her?" Gin opened his eyes to see the men flinch. " _Yeah... shows how well you two know me._ " He watched as some of the local woman began to tug on the men's arms. " _Of course... the red light district. What the perfect place to find and attack women._ "

"Please! Come back in. We feel safer with handsome Shinigami around."

"That includes you Fukutaicho Ichimaru."

Gin glanced away having the feeling that the person was trying to get him to look into their eyes. Letting out a sigh he let the women drag him into the room where they proceeded to entertain the Shinigami. He remained at the back of the room, pretending to watch. Instead he focused on what he could hear. Nothing out of the norm happened. " _I'll have to wait until tomorrow next night._ "

" _Matsumoto was taken the first night, then four more women. That would mean that tomorrow nights victim will be the sixth._ "

" _Not if I can do something about it._

Things proceeded then the same way, except by the next day it was running. This time he heard the sounds of someone stepping away and he found himself following behind one of the young dancers, pulling back his reiatsu so that the creature wouldn't realize it was being followed. Opening one eye he watched as the creature shed it's skin and slipped out of the husk."

" _How can they not notice that thing was posing as one of the missing?_ "

" _Because of the power it has._ " Gin clamped it's eyes shut. " _It likely does a dance for people without said people realizing that it was preforming. My guess is that it attacks only the girls from the dance hall and plans on moving on once the place is emptied._ _"_

" _Oh... that is a nice way to say that._ "

Gin took a deep breath, waiting for the bait to come along. Turning his head he saw one of the females step out in time to be grabbed by the Hollow. The creature, which was almost humanoid in shape yanked the top of the girls kimono down so that she was half naked and the rain dripped down her body. The girl wasn't screaming as hand was covering her mouth. " _The scream must come when he enters her body._ "

" _Oh... look..._ " Shinso blurted out something inappropriate.

" _Don't go there. That is perverted in many ways_ "

" _It's not fair, you've only ever seen Rangiku naked and you're not reacting like you should."_

The silver haired man choose to ignore the zampaktuo and stepped forward. One hand reached up to scratch his head. "Well... I knew that Hollows liked to eat souls, but I didn't know they liked to mollest them before eating them."

" _I would have used different words._ "

" _I didn't know you were such a pervert Shinso._ " Gin placed his hand at his side. "Do you think I'm going to let you take a sixth victim?"

"sixth, this is only my fifth since I came into existence."

" _It might be Rangiku_."

" _No... it's not her._ "

"I was starving for weeks before I was allowed to eat."

" _See... it isn't her._ " The silver haired man said his phrase and Shinso shot out and pierced the Hollow's mask and the female ran off. Gin then found himself lecturing his zampaktuo. " _Seriously... I didn't need you to say what you just said. That was disgusting. All of it, very... very disgusting._ "

" _I wouldn't make such comments if you actually take time to make love with your lover. Oh wait! That is hard for you to do since Rangiku is missing._ "

" _When we find Rangiku I suggest going off to_ _her_ _inner world and_ _you_ _go bang Haineko or do what ever else you do when you visit her."_

" _Oh! How mature! At least I get to make love with my lover while you are a major stick in the mud._ "

" _Zampaktuo doing it..._ "

" _You're the one who thought of it first moron._ "

Gin let out a sigh as he mentally blocked off the ranting his zampaktuo was now doing. He headed back in time to find himself congratulated by the other Shinigami for taking care of the Hollow but he honestly felt empty inside. He waved them off and decided to head back to the sixth division. He stopped short when he saw the place he kept things hidden. " _I want to see him._ "

The man spun on his heels and headed back out, this time to the southern part of the Rukon. He stopped short upon realizing that there was commotion at the old woman's place. A rather large fire was going and he found himself pulling close to hear what was going on.

"I can't believe that we're having to look for that child. None of us can track reiatsu and Hinamori Momo even admits that she wouldn't be able to recognize her own brother's reiatsu as she never thought to take notice of how it felt."

"You'd think that with an icy reiatsu that child would be easy for her to find."

"Maybe it has to do with this weather. We had problems starting the fire for the search party."

"I bet the rain was caused by that kid! I mean, he did freeze the old lady to death."

The silver haired man slipped away, his stomach churning with anger. He reached out his senses to feel for the child, only to find himself moving back to hiding. Looking around the corner he saw that the small female child who had grown up with Toshiro was looking around as if she had sensed something."

Gin let out a sigh. " _Where would have headed?_ "

" _The woods. Big people can't chase you there and you know he wouldn't have run unless he found himself chased._ "

" _Damn. I want to kill them._ "

" _You know that it will draw unneeded attention._ "

This brought more mental cursing. Gin headed to the woods and felt there, away from the girl for the child's reiatsu. "Found you Shiro-chan."

The man then moved through the woods, cursing the bad luck he was having. Coming to the other side of the woods he found himself at another village. Stepping around he headed towards where he felt the boy was. Looking up he felt a shiver run through his spine as he saw the child sitting there in the mud. Gin stooped down, taking in the bruises. " _Are you sure I can't kill someone for this?_ "

" _I'm positive. I'm also positive that you can't keep him._ " A bony hand reached out to touch the boy's forehead, only to flinch when he realized that the child had a horrible feaver. Gin then looked around. His zampaktuo spoke. " _Everyone is probably doing what they minimally would need to do with the weather. They aren't going to look at the back of their houses for a small child, particularly when their wood stacks are at the side somewhat sheltered from the weather._ "

Gin scooped the boy up into his arms. The child reached his hand up and touched his face. "To-chan."

The man flinched. Shinso of course lectured him. " _You can't keep him._ "

" _Where should I take him._ "

" _That place._ "

The silver haired man's head darted up. " _No, that place will do._ "

He then found himself moving, holding the child close to his body. He slipped back into the main area of Soul Society and then arrived outside of a building. Slipping carefully over the wall he went to the porch in front of a door and set the child down onto the porch. He then moved quickly away. Turning his head he noticed that the child's eye's were opening and that his one hand had fallen off the porch.

Gin made to go and put the hand back on but the door opened. He slipped away, the empty feeling gone for the time being.


	9. Broken Mind

"What do you mean we should stop trying?" Kaien felt his throat and chest tighten with Miyako's words.

"I said we should stop trying to have a child. At this point I feel if it was meant to be it will be."

The fukutaicho of the thirteenth division's voice tightened. "But we can't have children unless we actually do something."

The female looked away from him. "The honest truth Kaien is that you've been trying so hard to please me that you're wearing yourself thin."

"You don't want to have a child?" The man looked at the ground, his hands gripping the leggings of his uniform.

"I'd _love_ to have a child, but I don't feel it is something that will make or break our marriage. I just enjoy being with you so much and this has been eating at you to the point you've become moody. Many of the division members have noticed your behavior. Ukitake and your brother are getting worried. I'm getting worried"

"You would make a wonderful mother though Miyako. You'd make the most wonderful mother in the world."

The female laughed. "What about your own mother?" The smile left when she realized that Kaien wasn't in a joking mood. "We should probably talk about this later. But seriously... we do need to talk about it. Perhaps when you come home from drinking with your brother and the uncles?"

Kaien took a deep breath knowing that this was her way of kicking her him out of their quarters. He left then, not at all pleased with the fact Miyako was dismissing the idea of having a child so easily. " _She's not dismissing it easily. This is just as hard on her as it is you._ "

Drinking with the three taicho didn't lift his mood and he became even more irritated when Isshin invited himself home. He also had the feeling Miyako had taken the time to speak to Isshin about their problems. He planned on having the conversation with her the next morning once his twin brother was gone but instead he found the news of Rangiku hitting all of them hard.

The decision of the head captain was to declare the woman dead which in turn left Isshin in charge of making funeral arrangements for his second in command. Taht eveneing he went and sulked in the quarters he shared with Miyako and sat down so that he was facing the wall. When his wife got home she sat own behind him allowing her back to touch his. "I'm guessing you're not in the mood to continue our conversation from yesterday."

"Now seems the wrong place and wrong time." Kaien continued to look at the wall. "I wonder if something were to happen to nii-sama, ku-chan or Ganju if I would fill this empty."

"Our family came to think of her as a younger sister." Miyako leaned back against him so that the back of her arms touched the back of his arms. "Isn't Gin-chan going to attend the funderal?"

"Gin?" Kaien felt himself swallow. His knee jerked up to his chest and his chin touched the top of the bent joint. He then burried his face in the crook of his arm. "That child is likely hunting down hollows."

"Won't he be grieving like he rest of us."

"That is his way of grieving. He doesn't emote like a normal person. I'd be more worried if he wasn't doing something like that."

"I know we've been sleeping in different futons but let's sleep together. I want to be near you."

"I don't feel up to making love tonight."

"I'm actually glad you're for once admitting that. I don't care one way or another. I just want you to hold me."

Despite the time they spent with each other the stress wouldn't go away. Isshin also was stressed due to Rangiku's death. His normal goofy self was gone and replaced by a personality Kaien hadn't seen since their father's death. His twin also surprised him with his own words. "I'm sorry for this happening when you and Miyako are dealing with your own personal problems right now."

"Don't. Don't go there. Our issue is honestly a family issue as is this. You know that, so stop trying to blame yourself. You're blaming yourself just like you did when father died. You weren't even there Isshin."

"That..." His brother shut his mouth then giving him a rather hurt look. The man looked away. "I know you're right. You shouldn't blame yourself either for things out of your control. I guess there is a reason we're twins."

The next few days were painful but Miyako stayed near him despite the fact his depressed mood was likely causing her to have a similar mood. They sat one night in their room and listened to the rain pouring down. "It kind of fits the mood, doesn't it?"

Kaien felt her soft hand touched his rough and calloused hand. "Something positive will happen soon."

"Sure." The man closed his eyes, taking in the warmth of the small fire. His eyes snapped open when he sensed something outside. Standing up he stood up and walked to the door, sliding it open. Kaien's eye's widened upon seeing the small figure on the porch. There lay a child with white hair. From the looks of the partially opened eyelids the child had an odd eye color.

What really caught his attention was the fact the child's clothing was torn in a few places and there were signs he had been beaten. He turned his head to look at his wife. "Miyako!"

The third seat of the thirteenth division stood up and walked over to the door. "What..." A small delegate hand clasped over her mouth. "Kaien..."

The man moved carefully to the child who was soaking wet. He could hear the ragged breath coming from the boy's lips. "He's still alive Miyako, but I thin one of his lungs is punctured."

"Bring him inside. It's freezing outside. The poor thing."

The man bent down then on one knee and reached out for the child, carefully maneuvering his arm underneath the child and lifting the young one up, noticing how light the child was. Stepping into the room he closed the door with his foot and lay the child next to the fire. Miyako walked over to her healing kit. Her mouth was twisted up showing her displeasure. "How can someone be so cruel?"

"While I agree with you I find it odd that someone would take the time and leave them right outside our door for us to find. Mind you, I don't think someone is trying to send a message or they trying to trap us. Thing is someone, despite everything that happened left them for us to find because..."

Miyako let out a sigh. "They wanted us to find him because they knew that we could take care of them while they could not. I wonder what kind of situation this babe has been through. Kaien... could you get those wet clothes off of them being as careful as possible?"

The man then began to wrangle off the wet clothing. "Bare feet, a short kimono. The kid's likely from the Rukongai." Miyako came over and began to help him remove the clothes and they could see whether the child was male or female. "I wonder what his name is. Someone had to care enough to give him a name."

The woman began to dry the boy's body off, frowning as her hand brushed against the child's skin. "He's burning up. I wonder if there is not any internal bleeding. He may not survive Kaien."

"You'll do your best, right?"

Miyako looked up at him. "Send a message to Unohana. If anyone can save him she can."

Kaien stood up and hurried to where their division kept the hell butterflies and he hurried back when he was finished sending the message. He knelt down next the boy and began to follow his wife's instructions. "I know that he has someone who cares for him Miyako, but if no one steps forward. Do you think we could."

The sound of a deep sigh caused him to look up knowing she would be brutely honest with him. "Please don't get your hopes up. He may not even survive." There came a pause. "But until the time comes we can act as this little ones parents. It seems like he needs it."


	10. Calm Mind

"I can't handle the way everyone's treated him." The small female continued to say what she felt she needed to say despite the fact her voice strained as she tried telling them how she felt. Tatsukichi stood there staring at her, his eye's wide as he took in what she said. He didn't move from the spot despite the fact Momo's words stung.

The small female continued to look at her feet and silence prevailed. She finally looked up at the elder. "I honestly don't know where to start."

The elder frowned. "You aren't able to pinpoint what direction he headed in for us by feeling out for his reiatsu."

The small female swallowed, her eyes beginning to water. Somehow she managed to keep her tears from falling. "I don't know what his reiatsu feels like. It's honestly nothing I ever noticed when I came back. I wasn't around enough, didn't come home enough."

The older man continued to look at her before Tatsukichi smiled at her. "We'll go and start up a search party. That is what the normal procedure is when a child disappears."

" _Normal procedure?_ " Momo found herself swallowing as her hands gripped the pants of her school uniform. " _It was a normal procedure that no one felt should take place for Shiro-chan. They really don't like him, do they? Why though?_ " Her brown eyes darted to the ground again. "I appreciate that. I should help too."

"No... you stay here. You're still upset about finding out the news."

She remained there sitting, her eyes fixated on the ground. A soft drizzle came making Tatsukichi and Ayumi come and speak with her about coming inside to their place as the weather came down. The academy student looked up, blinking a couple of times. "Yeah... but I should really go and wait for Shiro-chan at the house. He might actually come back. I might be lucky enough to see him come back."

"The village women are still trying to get the smell out of the house."

"From what I understand they're going to place your grandmother in a closed casket as there is the smell of rot." Ayumi's nose wrinkled up. "How could your brother stay in there with the smell like that?"

Tatsukichi looked at the ground. "He stayed there because he didn't have anywhere to go. He may not have even realized that she was dead."

Momo looked up. "So Shiro-chan didn't know granny was dead until someone found him."

"Momo-chan, you need to keep up your strength for when Shiro-chan gets back."

The small female stood up and headed with the two back to the room. "Any news yet."

"No... the adults are having me run messages but..." Tatsukichi paused as if he wanted to say something but then changed his mind to say something else. "... nothing. Nothing at all."

"I should be out there looking for him, but tracking is not one of my strong suit. Even if... even if I wasn't trying to still digest what is going on." Momo walked into the small house and found herself in the corner, glad that the drizzle didn't cause her clothing to be overly soaked. She waited patiently for news but the sound of rain came to her ears, pouring down outside of the room. " _I wish Izuru and Renji were here. They would know what to do._ "

Night came and she found herself asked to sleep in an extra futon but she found it hard to sleep as the worry kept her awake. In the morning she woke up and made to go looking for Toshiro herself, only to notice the broken sandal she had as well as the tabi socks she had removed due to the fact they were being stained with dirt. Her friends mother had washed the socks so they were now spotless but the sandal still needed to be mended.

Their mother came over and picked up her sandal. "Let me mend this for you." After a few minutes she found the sandal being handed to her. "The house is cleaned out smell wise. Someone from your family needs to keep watch over your granny before the funeral."

" _Why do I get the feeling that they are trying to stop me from finding Shiro-chan. I'm not sure what to say to them because I have no proof._ " She headed to the house where a small casket was sealed so that the smell wouldn't bother anyone. Momo sat there and time passed as she waited for someone to find the small child.

" _The room feels empty... it feels as if everything has been thrown away, made so that I can't ever reach it again. It's as if I have a big gaping hole in my chest and it feels as if nothing is ever going to be the same. It's all gone._ " The small female found herself unable to handle it anymore and leaned forward into the palms of her hands as she sobbed hard. Somehow she found herself dozing off and eventually morning came.

The sound of the villagers murmuring caused her head to snap up in attention. She made to go to the door. One of the woman grabbed the back of her school uniform. "It isn't proper to leave."

"I don't care what is proper right now. I want my little brother to be found so I can hold him in my arms!" The female pushed forward and slid the door open, only to not find what she was hoping for. She blinked a couple of times.

A young man with red hair scratched his head. "We asked the head of the academy to allow us to have time off so we could come and help you with the funeral."

In the mean time the other student from the academy looked around. "Something doesn't feel right. I mean, this is a wake before the funeral, but something doesn't feel right."

The next thing Momo knew she flung herself at the two boys, burring her face between the two. "Shiro-chan's missing. I can't find him anywhere."

Renji blinked a couple of times. "What do you mean?"

Izuru touched her shoulder. "Why don't we go inside and talk."

They slipped into the room and sat in and the words came out of her mouth. Izuru foldes his arms across his chest. "When is your grandmother's funeral?"

"It's tomorrow morning."

"After the funeral tomorrow I suggest heading back to the academy and seeing if they won't let us get help in finding your little brother. Renji and I can only cover a small amount of space on our own.


	11. Calm Soul

" _Could we possibly keep him?_ " The idea kept running through Kaien's mind. " _Someone left him here for us because they knew..._ " The fukutaicho of the thirteenth division brushed the thought away. He sent the note off to Unohana, blinking a couple of times as the exhaustion from not sleeping like one should started to take its toll. He instead hurried back, his mind feeling clearer then before despite the tiredness he felt.

As he worked with Miyako, taking in the bruised body of the child he spoke his mind. I know that he has someone who cares for him Miyako, but if no one steps forward. Do you think we could?"

His wife looked at him. "Please don't get your hopes up. He may not even survive. But until the time comes we can act as this little ones parents. It seems like he needs it."

Kaien watched as his wife worked at the most severe injuries and he handed her the things that she needed. A knock came at the door and he slid it open to see Unohana. The woman's hands were on her lips. "Where is this child in need of medical attention?

The male shinigami moved back from the door and allowed the taicho of the forth division to come in and sit by the small child. A frown spread across her face. "Who could do this to such a small thing? Why would they do it? And..." The woman paused before reaching her hand out. After letting it remain for a bit. "I will get started right away. As soon as the rain clears up I would like to transfer him though to my division as I should have him stabalized."

"Of course."

Upon hearing the excitement in his voice Unohana looked up at him while she worked. "You seem quite excited for some reason."

Kaien flinched and went silent. Miyako let out a chuckle, her hand touching her mouth. "My husband is excited about the child showing up at our door, considering the fact we have been trying to have children and not being successful."

Unohana frowned, her eyes narrowing. "I will discuss that with the two of you once we get him transferred to my division. Shiba Fukutaicho... could you please give Ukitake Taicho news about what is going on and that you will both be accompanying me to the forth with the child."

"Yes mam." The boy stood up and hurried to his captain's quarters, kneeling at the door and rapping his knuckles against the door. Ukitake's voice came from inside inviting him in and Kaien slid the door open.

"What news do you have for me?"

"Someone left a child outside of Miyako and my quarters. We sent for Unohana and she said to let you know that we would be accompanying her and the child to the forth division."

Ukitake stared at him from his bed but then spoke up again. Taking a deep breath he spoke his mind. "The child has injuries that bad."

The smile on Kaien's face broke. "Yes... but Unohana is taking care of him."

"You've taken an interest in this child I take it?" The taicho of the thirteenth of the division frowned. "Don't you find it strange that someone dropped a child off like that Kaien?" Ukitake watched as the young man opened his mouth, letting it remain that way for a bit of time, before snapping it shut. "So you are fully aware that this is strange."

"You aren't going to get the forty-six involved are you? I mean..." The fukutaicho shook his head. "Actually... I don't know why I thought they would get involved. You aren't going to make a big deal of this to the other taicho? I mean, I understand telling nii-sama as he is Miyako and my relation, but does anyone else have to know?"

"I don't know. I think the head captain will likely know and I am likely to let Kyoraku know, but I don't see why any of the other taicho outside of those mentioned should know the full details. As far as anyone is concerned the boy is a child you and Miyako found in need of help. I'll be coming to the forth division to discuss this child with the parties already involved. When you get to forth you should send a message to Isshin."

"Yes sir." Kaien bowed quickly and shut the door without noticing the agitated look on Ukitake's face. He instead slipped away to the quarters he shared with Miyako while they waited for the time to transport the child to the forth division.

**M**

Kaien watched as the child was placed into one of the small recovery rooms upstairs. Isane had come when sh was notified to help move the child and was now working on covering the window to the room. "I can't believe this room is so cold. If need be we'll try another."

Unohana simply went and sat by the child and the temperature. "Isane... why don't you have a heater brought in here along with bowls of water. The heater will help keep the room warm, but the water can be used to wet towels to cool the child's fever. Be sure to put the heater by the window."

"Normally it isn't cold this time of year." Kaien went and stood in the corner. "What is with this weather?"

"We were going to discuss the child and the fact someone left him for you to find."

Kaien felt his throat tighten. Letting out a deep sigh he glanced at the door. "Could this at least wait until my taicho and nii-sama get here. This way we can avoid repeating things we don't need to."

The young fukutaicho watched as his wife slid into a chair and nodded off. To his surprise Unoahana changed the subject. "Have you and your wife been sleeping?"

"That..."

"Get yourself a chair and I'll let you know when they get here."

Letting out a sigh of frustration Kaien went to another room and pulled the chair in. He found himself being nudged away in time to look up at his brother with a concerned look on his face. When the younger twin responded a grin spread across Isshin's face. "I heard you had an unexpected delivery."

Kaien looked over at the child and noted that he was still far from recovering. "Someone just left him there for us to find."

"Shouldn't we be trying to find this child's family." Ukitake sat in another chair, his arms folded.

Kyoraku seemed to be napping but suddenly spoke in a quick manner. "Yes... well, whoever left him didn't want to be seen. They may not want anyone to know who this child's parents are and decided to leave him in a safe place and with someone they knew would take care of him."

"Yes... but they could have left him many other places." Miyako frowned from where she was. "They could have left the child anywhere, but it's almost as if they know Kaien and I haven't been able to have children. Who all knows that?"

Isshin's breath stopped short. "No one outside of the family."

Ukitake shook his head. "No. I think quite a few people have figured it out but have been polite enough to say nothing as they know that Kaien and Miyako haven't brought it up personally. It means it is a sensitive subject for you two still."

"Ah... well, never mind." A grin spread across the tenth division taicho's face.

"What do you mean _never mind_?" Kaien walked up to his brother and began to rub his knuckles into the sides of his brother's head. "You..."

"Kaien..." Miyako's voice caused him to turn to look at the child who had begun to whimper at the loud noise. "I don't think that is a good idea."

Isshin blinked a couple of times. "Yeah... we should take this else where. My medical expertise says that the child's got some major issues going on, what with those injuries."

"Can't believe an adult would do that to a child."

"I can't believe you and Miyako went all the way to Unohana for help when I have good medical expertise as well and..."

"Can it..." Kaien closed his eyes, letting the tiredness take over and hoping his brother wouldn't be a major pester.


	12. Hurt Soul

Kaien and Miyako made the decision to stay with the child allowing the forth division members to tend to other tasks. The man startled awake by the sudden sound of someone thrashing about and opened his eyes to see the small child thrashing about in a feverish state. Taking a deep breath he pushed himself away from his chair and walked over to the child, grabbing the boy's shoulders to try and calm him down.

Instead he received a swift kick in the stomach causing him to let out a groan. He made to ignore the fact the child was attacking him only to have Miyako touch his arm. Kaien pulled back and looked at her face. "Let me try."

Stepping back he watched as the female stepped forward and sat carefully on the edge of the bed. The first thing she worked on doing was pulling the covers away from the boy. She then began to hum softly as the child continued to thrash before carefully reaching out to touch the child's head. At first the child flinched, but eventually he calmed down.

Kaien sat down. "You are wonderful with children Miyako." A thought of course crossed his mind. " _I wish we could have children as it would make you so happy to have a child to love._ "

"You're good with children as well."

"No... you did much better in this situation."

"Well... that may be for this particular case that you're male." Miyako turned to him, her eyes filled with sadness. "Kaien... would it be more likely for a male to have beaten the child up like this or a female?"

The man let out a sigh as he leaned forward. "It would be more likely to be a male. Actually, it would be more likely to be a bunch of males rather then just one."

Miyako carefully brushed her hand across the child's hair. "I wonder what color his eyes are."

"They're a beautiful blue-green color, almost like the sea." Kaien leaned forward into the palms of his hand. "In some ways I want to find out who he is, but in some ways... it's not just because I hope that he could end up being our child Miyako. I saw those bruises as you were working with him. My brothers and I have bruised ourselves up in our tussles with each other, but never like that."

"You've found a new person to protect. It's as simple as that." A smile spread across her face. "You know. That's what I've always liked about you. You love protecting people who need to be protecting and helping those who need helping. In the long run you fight the good fight every time you pick up your blade and it's always an issue of honor for you."

"I'm honestly wanting to beat the crap out of whoever did this to him as well, but I also want to hope there would be no point in doing that as he is in our protection." The man let out a sigh and looked at the ceiling. "Do you need anything Miyako?'

'How about a change of clothes. Could you possibly see if Ukitake has any candy to spare for when the child wakes up? I mean... it would be wonderful to have something to make the child feel comfortable."

"Yeah... sure." Kaien stood up. "If what we think is true I think I need to worry about whether or not I'll have to step out of the room."

**M**

Kaien walked to the division with his hands behind his back, glad that the weather had cleared up and hoping the child would wake soon. He went straight to his and Miyako's place meaning to grab change of uniforms for both of them. He paused upon arriving at the door, noticing a small item sitting up against the door as if it had been placed their waiting for them.

Stepping forward and crouching down onto his knees he found himself looking at the item. Letting out a deep breath he picked up the stuffed bear and placed it under his arm and then stood up and headed into his quarters. He slid over to the drawers and grabbed a uniform for for him and his wife each. He paused though and took a look at the toy before placing it under his arm again and heading to see his taicho.

This time he didn't bother to knock on the door as he could sense how the man was feeling and slid the door open. "Yo!"

Ukitake looked up from what he was doing. "How is the boy doing?"

"He still hasn't waken up. Miyako's wondering if you have any candy to spare that we can give him when he wakes up. All little kids like candy, don't they?" Kaien kept his mood up beat.

"Well... yes. But some children are very particular about the kind of candy they will eat."

"I think finding out what he likes and dislikes will be fun." The man paused. "Hey... taicho... you wouldn't have left a stuffed toy outside of our door."

"No." Ukitake frowned. "Kaien... why do I have the feeling that someone who cares about that child is the one who left him there for you to find?"

"I have that feeling to do. Since that person trusted us with the boy it's Miyako and my job to see that the child is taken care of." The man knelt down to pick up the candy that Ukitake had pulled out. He pulled short. "You know... I think that's why he or she picked us. I mean, there is the fact that Miyako and I haven't been able to have children but there is the fact this person knows we would be able to take care of him."

"That's what's odd about this. This means to me at least that the person knows you and Miyako personally, but everyone I know has no reason to give up a child. Unless of course they just found the child, but then why not take them to forth or have come forward."

"I'm going to choose not to worry about it." Kaien moved to the door. As he slid the door shut he said something else to his taicho. "It means that someone we know has a secret that they can't share with us." A sudden laugh came to his mind. "You know... if I didn't know by brother better I'd assumed he had an affair with a woman, had a child out of wedlock and then found the child was in need and passed him onto us. Thing is the child doesn't look anything like nii-sama and I think he would be upfront about something like that with me."

"I doubt Isshin has ever seen a woman naked." Ukitake pause.

"I thought that was the reason he was banned from the forth."

"You mean because he's a pervert?"

"No. Because he can't look at a female patient's personal parts when he needs too." Kaien slipped back through the door.

The man headed back to the forth division, humming as he walked along.

**M**

Kaien arrived at the forth division and slid the door open. Miyako looked up. "I see you were able to get the candy as well."

Her husband slid the door closed. "Someone dropped something off for the boy."

The girl blinked a couple of times. "What do you mean?"

The fukutaicho of the thirteenth division walked over to the third seat and handed her the small stuffed animal. "This was right outside of our door."

Miyako took the stuffed animal. "This looks so new... and it's not something out in the Rukongai could afford. And yet..."

"We're quite sure that the boy is from the Rukongai." Kaien went and sat down in the chair he had been sitting in. "The situation is honestly strange."

"Why do I have the feeling you already have an idea of what is going on?" The female pulled the stuffed animal close to her chest. "Should we give this to him when he wakes?"

"First... I don't know what is going on. I'm not sure if I really want to. Second, I think we should hold off giving it to him. If we just give it to him he'll think it is something from us and I really... that just doesn't seem right for some reason. Plus... there is no telling where it came from, or who the person who left them is. I need some time to think."

"I'll put it aside then." The woman frowned. "Kaien... you do understand that despite the fact someone... who we do believe loved him enough to place him in our care... left him with us... there might be other people who care for him. They might have left him with us so we can get him back to his real family."

Kaien paused and then scratched his head. "No... you're probably right despite the fact I don't want to believe it.


	13. Hurt Ego

Some of the empty feeling Momo felt went away with the appearance of Renji and Kira. She found herself glad to know that both had come to support her during the funeral and were more then willing to help find her little brother. They stood by her while her grandmother's casket was burned and the smoke filtered up into the air.

The next morning the three headed back to the academy, their place slow as Momo's mood was still off as her mind focused on worrying about the small, missing child. Upon arriving at the academy Izuru took the lead. "I know which of the other students would be the best help. Since your little brother is likely injured we should find the students who specialize in the healing Kido."

Renji narrowed his eyes and placed his arms behind his head. "I forgot. You picked up the healing Kido classes."

"I took a few healing Kido classes as well." Momo blinked a couple of times. "What is the big deal Renji?"

"He wouldn't be able to take the healing courses if he wanted too. He's always been bad at Kido." Kira shook his head at the two and then knocked on the door for the class room used for healing courses.

One of the other students slid the door open. "Ah... Kira-san. We heard you were attending the funeral of a friends family member."

"Yeah... about that." Kira motioned the other two inside. "When Hinamori arrived home for her grandmother's funeral she found out that her small brother had gone missing. The villagers are having a problem finding him so we thought to see if we could get any of the other students to help us in looking for him we might be able to find him. Plus, he may be in need of healing."

Another student was sitting at one of the desk working on classwork and looked up. "Wait... this would be a male child?" The other student watched as the three looked at them in surprise. "What exactly does he look like?"

'Shiro-chan?" Momo blinked a couple of times. "My little brother is really cute and really small. He has white hair that is like the snow and these beautiful eyes which are like the sky before a storm." There came a pause. "Well... before a storm may not be the best description. They're kind of like a gem of sorts. They're a unique color."

The student stood up. "A couple of days ago... yeah, it was the day after the rain storm. Well, a child fitting that description was brought into the forth division. No one knows where he came from, but they have been caring for him. It is possible this child is your little brother."

Momo blinked a couple of times. "But how..." Her body trembled. " _How can I be this lucky? I mean, after finding that our village turned on him for something he had no control over..._ " The girl shook her head. "Please! I'd like to see if this child is my little brother!"

The other student frowned. "I think you should speak to the head master first and arrange for you to see Unohana Taicho directly."

**M**

The taicho of the forth was in her office when the Hell Butterfly from the academy came and notified her that someone was in fact possibly looking for the child. She sent a message back to have the person brought to her office. Details in the message was lacking and that in herself worried her. What surprised her even more was when three students showed up from the academy rather then just one. "So... one of you is looking for your younger brother?"

The small female opened her mouth, her eyes wide but nothing came out. The blond haired student spoke then. "It would be Hinamori Momo whose looking for her brother."

Unohana listened as the small female let out a squeak. The woman stood up and popped her head outside the door. "Isane, could you go and get some tea while I get a couple more chairs for our guests."

She came back with the first chair to see that the small female had taken her seat. The male with the tattoos looked away. "I can easily stand mam."

"Are you trying to seem tough with your tattoos or are you simply trying to be polite."

"Renji's just being polite! He's actually very nice!" Momo's words finally came out but the small female clammed up and looked at her hands again.

"Well... Isane isn't yet back with the tea." The woman slipped outside of the room and came back to see that the tea was there. She set the chair in place and the second young man waited until she took a seat at her desk. "How is it you come to be looking for your younger brother?" The blond opened his mouth again only to have the woman hold up her hand. "Let her speak for herself."

After a few minutes the girl spoke up. "First... I need to be up front about the fact Shiro-chan isn't my brother by blood."

"You're from the Rukongai?"

"Yes. We were..." There came a pause and then the girl spoke again. "We were raised by our granny. Five years ago I went away to the academy leaving Shiro-chan with granny. A few days ago I received a message from our village about how our granny had passed away."

"So... did he run away because the death of your granny upset him?"

Momo suddenly flinched. "You aren't going to put my little brother to death are you?"

The girls eye's suddenly looked at the ground. Unohana frowned. "Why would we put him to death?"

"The villagers... they said... it is actually because." Another pause came. "The villagers said it is my brother's fault that our granny died. But he honestly didn't mean to. If anyone is to blame it should be me because I should have noticed something whenever I came to visit, but I hadn't a clue."

The forth division taicho folded her fingers together. "How? How did your brother cause her death?"

"He... his reiatsu..."

Unohana continued to frown. "Let me guess. That icy reiatsu of his ended up killing her because it was so out of control."

"That..." Momo looked up. "Please! Don't execute him! He's just a baby!"

"The boy in question is badly injured."

"That's because..." Tears suddenly began to trickle down the girls face and then she buried her hands into her face.

Izuru took a deep breath. "I know that you asked that she speak, but the reason her little brother ran off wasn't because their granny died. He ran off because some of the men in the village decided to beat on him when they found that she was dead. "

"You should have let me beat them up."

The blond let out a frustrated sound. "Abarai... I already told you, that would make us no better then them. Plus... there is no telling who did it." The young man spoke again. "There is more. Apparently Toshiro tried getting the old woman help a few days before she died but the entire village. Everyone who sought help ignored him."

Unohana's eyes widened. "Your brother... he was ostracized by your village? How could you have no known about this?"

"I don't know."

"Think. I can't just let you see him unless I get a good answer."

"They never did it in front of me, but now that I think back they never spoke directly to Shiro-chan. It was always directly to granny and me. I... what I don't understand is why. Shiro-chan is a sweet heart." Momo's hands tightened around her leggins. "If I had known, I would never have tried entering the academy."

"So... you want to see if this child is your brother?"

"I want to see that Shiro-chan is all right."

Unohana choose then to be blunt. "The child in question is not all right. While I have managed to take care of his injuries his body is still suffering from a major fever. He hasn't woken up a single time since Shiba Fukutaicho and his wife found him."

Izuru's eyes widened. "Shiba-dono and his wife?

The woman let out a sigh. "Something wrong about that."

"That..." Izuru glanced at the ground. "I'm guessing we're lucky that they found him."

"They're with them right now."

"If you'll follow me. Be forewarned that while his wife will be calm Shiba Fukutaicho is not happy with the fact the child received the beating he did. The Shiba clan... well..."

"They're the protectors of our district." Momo spoke up rather quickly. "Is that why they were able to find him?"

"Perhaps. I don't wish to go into detail about that. Right now we need to focus on seeing whether or not you can identify this child as your younger brother." The woman motioned for them to follow her. She stopped outside of a room and then told them to wait. Stepping inside she slid the door shut. "Kaien, Miyako... someone has come looking for the child."

Kaien flinched while Miyako simply gave the woman a weak smile. The other woman spoke first. "I'm guessing the family member is quite distraught."

"Distraught..." The fukutaicho of the thirteenth division felt his voice strain.

"Yes. She is distraught. Apparently his foster sister was away at the academy when the child's reiatsu killed their grandmother. The village reacted negatively, but it seems that they took notice of his reiatsu before then."

"How could she not have noticed where his reiatsu was?" Kaien shook his head.

"I didn't ask, but feeling her reiatsu... well... you'll understand that part when you meet her."


	14. Bruised Ego

Momo was nervous as she followed behind the taicho of the forth division. " _Am I nervous because she is a captain or am I nervous because I'm worried about seeing Toshiro again._ " Then... " _I think it is both. … Se is amazing. …. Aren't all taicho are amazing? … I don't know... I mean... Aizen and his fukutaicho are both pretty amazing. I don't think it is possible to have two people be that amazing. … But you don't know unless you try. … "_

" _Plus... she's the reason Shiro-chan is alive._ " Momo's hand twitched, stopping short when Unohana motioned them to stay outside of the door. The woman stepped in to speak with someone.

The door opened eventually and a rather stern looking young man looked out at them with a frown on his face. The stern look disappeared temporarily upon seeing one of her male companions. "Izuru... you've grown quite a bit since I last saw you."

The man then turned his head to look at the girl, examining her as he did causing Momo's trembling to return. The man then looked inside the room frowning. "You can peek in to see if it is your brother."

The small female found herself creeping forward to peek in. Her eyes suddenly widened in horror. "Shiro-chan!"

Her voice suddenly caused the small body in the big bed to seize. Miyako and Unohana both moved to settle the child down. Momo also made to move to her brother's side. The man who knew Izuru's name thought was watching and suddenly snapped his head her way. With a dept movement he scooped her up and with his foot closed the door with another swift movement. "No. This way."

Momo's arms flailed as she tried to reach for her small brother and she struggled to get loose. The man though didn't put her down until they arrived in a conference room. He then pulled a chair out from the table. "Sit and calm down. You two sit as well. I'll go and get some tea from the kitchens to calm her down."

The girl found herself sobbing, the tears falling onto her small hands. Eventually the sound of the door slid open and a trey was sat down. The man then took a seat in a rough manner, sitting in a fashion so unlike most of the noble families. Renji stood, the corner of his mouth twitching from irritation and his arms crossed across his chest.

The small female's sobs finally calmed down and the man spoke in a rather candid manner. "So... do you understand why you couldn't sense your little brother's reiatsu?"

Momo began to choke again and suddenly she burst into tears. "I didn't know! I didn't mean to not be able to find them."

Renji's voice rose then. "Look... I put up with you hauling Momo away from her little brother, but this? That was absolutely uncalled for! I know you probably think she should have been there, protecting her little brother but..."

Izuru suddenly grabbed his friends arm. "Are you an idiot! He's a member of the Shiba clan!"

"So he's some stuck up noble! I was able to wipe the floor with you during sword play. I can easily..."

"No you idiot! The Shiba clan's different then the other noble families!"

Kaien looked at the young man with irritation, his arms crossing. He turned his head towards Momo. "You grew up in the Rukongai? What district?"

The small female hiccuped out the answer. She then sobbed out more words. "I wouldn't have gone to the academy if I know this would have happened. Honest!"

Renji pushed Izuru way. "Would you just stop tormenting her already!"

The blond let out a sigh. "Renji... he is one of the five noble clans."

The member of the Shiba clan in question ignored the two males. "You know... in the same regard you feel it's your fault this happened to your brother we of the Shiba clan should also feel it is our fault as well. There is no point in beating yourself up about it."

Momo blinked a couple of times while the red haired academy student blinked a couple of times. "Wait... what?"

"Now that you've calmed down..." Kaien stood up and poked Renji in the forehead. "For your information that area is supposed to be under the Shiba clan's protection. We're always looking out for anomalies in the area."

"I don't like the fact you're calling Momo's little brother an abnormality."

"Not abnormalities... anomalies." Kaien sat back down with his arms crossed. "Though some people would call the people who cause the anomalies an abnormality. We consider these people who cause these anomalies to just be different people who need a place to fit in."

"I'm..." Renji frowned. "Honestly... I'm not understanding what you're saying."

"Back to why you weren't able to sense your brother's reiatsu."

The red heads finger pointed at the man. "I do know that though is rude!"

Kaien's mouth twisted up into a frown and his hands went down to his knees. He then stood up, glaring at Renji as he did so. He grabbed the young man's head and got into his face. "You! Now see here! I'm tired of your punk ass attitude acting all tough and all as if you want to fuck up my face. I am _not_ going to put up with crap from you and if you don't stop you're going to find your head stuffed up your ass. I'm far from being in a good mood, but I am honestly trying to be civil here."

He then pushed Renji away and sat down. "Plus... I wouldn't bring up something if there wasn't a reason for it."

The red haired academy student blinked a couple of times before sitting down. He turned to Izuru. "Um... he's a noble?"

The small male leaned over. "I told you... the Shiba clan is different then the other noble families."

"So... they've got a bad ass reputation?"

"Not... exactly."

"Would you two shut up." Kaien's words caused the two males to freeze. "What can you tell me about your zampaktuo?"

Momo blinked a couple of times while wiping her tears away. "I still can't hear my zampaktuo's voice."

"That... ehh... what?" The older male blinked a couple of times while his arms were folded across his chest. "You're _what_ year of the academy?"

"I'm in my last year."

"Ehh..."

Izuru spoke up. "Momo's weak point is the sword. Her strong point is Kido."

"Her only strong point is Kido." Renji rolled his eyes. "That and book studies."

Kaien's hand went to his head. "That explains a lot."

"It explains a lot?" Momo shook her head. "What does it explain?" There was silence. "And my brother... he's going to get better, right?"

"We don't know." The man let out a sigh. "So... you mean to tell me you honestly haven't any idea what your own reiatsu feels like?"

"No... but what does that have to do with anything?"

Izuru piped out. "Momo's reiatsu has a nice warm feeling about it."

Kaien looked at the boy before shaking his head. Renji however frowned. "Momo's right. What does that have to do with anything."

The man leaned back, his face still twisted up in frustration. "Your reiatsu has a fiery feel to it. It's far from being anywhere near as strong as Yamamotto's or even my older brothers but it is still there. Despite the fact your little brother has one of the highest icy feelings to his reiatsu we've felt in a long time your reiatsu was for a long period of time able to counter it."

"So... if I hadn't have gone to the academy Toshiro wouldn't have accidentally have killed granny?"

"No. Well, if your reiatsu was serving as a method to keep his in check and stopping it from growing then yes. But I honestly don't think that was the problem here. There is a chance if you didn't go to the academy that it wouldn't just _be_ your granny that is dead now."

Momo clutched her pant legs. "Yes. But the thing is I could have at least noticed that something was wrong and have done something to make it so that he wouldn't have been alone and granny could have gotten help. Also, it wouldn't have happened as fast at least."

Kaien frowned, folding his arms across his chest. "You can't look at things in hind sight like this. Eventually you still would have gone to the academy and instead of your granny dying during your sixth year she would have died sooner." The man paused. "You actually don't understand how high of a reiatsu your brother has do you?"

The small female flinched. "What..."

"That child's reiatsu is on par with a third seat and that is without him _having_ any training. Eventually he's going to reach captain level. Of course... whether he can become a captain or not depends on his mental state. You saw how he reacted in the other room. That beating those villagers gave him is going to leave some major mental scars."

"I'm not understanding. He's just a little kid. I want him to remain a little kid and not have to worry about being a Shinigami. I mean..."

Momo's words were interrupted by the door opening.


	15. Bruised Esteeme

Leaving the child on the wooden step hurt as much as the idea of Rangiku dying. The only consolation was the fact his zampaktuo honestly tried to cheer him up. " _At least you know he's with people who will take care of him, so honestly don't worry about the fact you can't hold onto him. Because that's what you're really upset about, the fact you can't hold them and keep your family close. That is the price you have to pay._ "

The man simply went back to the fifth and at first tried heading back to his quarters only to stop short. Instead he turned on his heals and headed to the fifth division to see that Aizen was sitting at his desk. He leaned up against the wall, that fake smile of his spreading across his face. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"Why did you kidnap Ran-chan?"

"Matsumoto Rangiku is dead Gin-kun." The man continued to work away at the paperwork.

" _I can't wait until I'm promoted to the captain of the third division as I won't have to deal with him as much._ " The man folded his arms across his chest. "I went after the Hollow that supposedly killed Ran-chan."

"Oh..."

"It clearly said that it wasn't it."

"Oh... what do you mean it said it wasn't it."

"It only ate four before the one I rescued and not five. It remembered the number because it was very hungry before you let it lose. It was another one of your experiments... one that you gave your power too."

The man looked at him. "Well... you found out like I expected you too. I have her in a secure location and she'll be safe as long as you play nicely."

"So... you don't trust me?"

"No... I actually expect you to have second thoughts about what you're doing simply because she exists so I moved her existence to a position where you will comply no matter what."

"What... you going to kill her if I don't play nicely?"

"Gin... there are so many _other_ things I can do to her without killing her. Of course, I wouldn't expect you of all people to understand them but they involve leaving her mentally scarred for life and a very, very changed person. And even if you do play nicely I might just do some of them for the fun of it. Your friend is very pretty."

Gin swallowed. "I'll take my leave now." He turned and paused in the doorway. "Did you make this move because I'm going to be the taicho of the third."

"Of course."

The silver haired man slipped out of the room and headed to his room, collapsing onto the futon and cover his head. Shiso of course spoke to him. " _If you hadn't learned a long time ago to supress your emotions you would be bawling right about now."_

" _I would not._ " The man dozed off for a few minutes but awoke again and turned his head to the small hiding spot. Pulling it open he looked at the small teddy bear, his mind thinking of the small child. " _I may end up losing him .If I do..._ "

" _If you do you would be going berserk and not caring whether you were able to take down Aizen or not. You listen to me right here. Aizen thinks he's sealed your heart away but what he doesn't realize is that yours and Rangiku's child is your heart. Use it to your advantage. This is otherwise a very good plan and you should stick to it._ "

Gin let out a deep breath and closed the small door. Standing up he headed back to where he had left the child. Kaien and Miyako's reiatsu was faint as was the boy's meaning they had gone to the forth division. He set the bear down where one of them would find it and then slipped away, receiving a lecture from his zampaktuo about giving the secret away.

He waited to hear something about the child but no information came. He found himself walking around a few days later, glaring at certain division members when they came to near. Eventually though he went and bought some amanatto and slipped it under his sleeve before making the decision to head to the forth being called a fool by his zampaktuo the whole time. " _I'm just checking to see if he is all right. I'm not going to be seeing him._ "

" _Then why the babe's favorite candy?_ '

" _I'll just drop it somewhere where they can find it again, like on the windowsill._ "

" _Yes... and how is that not seeing him._ "

The man walked along and over heard the forth division gossiping about the child that had been brought in. " _Ah... good. I have an excuse now if they catch me sneaking around. I can say I came to visit the forth and see what they were up to and I over heard about the kid. And remember... I'm only going to leave it on the windowsill._ "

He paused short upon passing a particular door, flinching as he realized that the girl that had lived with Toshiro was there in the room with Shiba Kaien. Instead he changed direction and opened the door, slipping the candy into his sleeve. "So... what do we have here?"

The three looked up and blinked a couple of times. The girl stammered then. "Ichimaaru Fukutaicho!"

"Ah... hello." Gin slid the door shut, the want to pick on her hitting hard despite the fact Kaien was glaring at him. "Who might you three be?"

"You don't remember us?" The red head blinked a couple oftimes.

" _Of course I remember you three._ '

"He's a fukutaicho. There is no way that he would..."

"Ah... wait. You're the three kiddos who stood up to those hollows their first year with Shuhei-chan so that the other first years could get back to soul society." The man stepped into the room. "Why are you three here?" The fake smile spread across his face. " _Though I know why you're here and I don't like it one bit. How you found out I haven't a clue._ "

"I... my little brother was brought to the division."

"Oh... the one that the members of the forth division are talking about." Gin walked forward. "Why's he here?"

Momo froze for a few seconds before blurting. "Granny... Toshiro... froze granny... the villagers..."

Kaien watched the silver haired man carefully, a frown on his face but Gin payed him no mind. "Come on. Spit it out."

"Toshiro froze our granny to death and the villagers beat him up."

"Oh..." The silver haired man folded his arms across his chest. "You seem calm about the whole thing. Why didn't you do anything?" He then blurted out something he probably shouldn't have. "This wouldn't happen to be because you're fixated on Aizen?"

"What..."

Kaien let out an irritated sound and stood up, going and grabbing and grabbing a book from the table. The spine of the book cracked against the top of Gin's head, causing the man to flinch and shift his hold on the candy he had hidden. "How long am I and Isshin going to have to babysit you? You're going to be a captain soon." The man stepped around and then shoved Gin's head down so he was bowing to Momo. "Apologize for your rude comment."

"Gomenasai." Gin's eyes opened as he looked at the ground and a frown spread across his face. " _Why'd he have to go and do that?_ "

" _Because he and Isshin know you very well and can predict you even better then Aizen can._ "

" _As if_." Gin stood up and began to rub his head while still frowning. "That hurt by the way."

"For your information she's calm because I've been talking to her. She also didn't know what was going on as her reiatsu is comparable to his in the same manner Isshin's is compared to mine."

"Oh..." The silver haired man took a rather candid position about the manner. " _I still never have liked how she's treated Shiro-chan. And I want it to be the Shiba clan that takes him in and not her caring for him. She's weak._ "

Momo's hands gripped the seat of her pants. "You're going to be a captain soon?"

"Yes..."

"Speaking of which." Kaien suddenly grabbed on of Gin's arms and then the next. "You wouldn't be here unless you were planning on pranking the patients." The second grab caused the man to find the bag of candy and pull him out. "So I'm confiscating your toy, what ever it may be."

Kaien went back and sat down while Gin frowned at him. "But the kiddy could likely use with a prank to cheer him up, right?" This caused the man to glare at him. " _Best way to get information. Glad I didn't say I wouldn't pick on someone hurt that bad as I shouldn't have that bit of information._ "

"Gin... the child is still in a comma and is having nightmares."

Gin frowned at him. "Oh... it's that bad?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Oh. Poor kiddo." He crept over to the window and sat on the sill, his arms crossed wondering if he would be able to listen to the conversation between Kaien and the children.

Like he predicted Kaien choose to change the conversation to help calm Momo down again who had started hiccuping when he had mentioned Aizen again. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about your brother?"

"Like what?"

"Oh... what kind of games does he like playing?"

"He doesn't like playing many games, he prefers reading. He does play tops and when I was able to take him he always beat the other children."

"Ahh... how about his favorite and least favorite foods."

A smile spread across the girls face. "Shiro-chan loves amanatto like granny and watermelon. He doesn't like dried persimmons."

"Oh."

Gin flinched. " _Good grief... I need to get that bag of candy from Kaien-dono somehow._ "

" _Good luck. You know that the only reason he doesn't have Bankai is because he enjoys living in Isshin's shadow. Perhaps that is why he understands you so much, you who lives in someone elses shadow. You know full well he could easily wipe the floor with you._ "

" _Yeah, yeah._ "

" _Plus, if he does figure it out... which I doubt, he won't tell. You know he won't._ "


	16. Self Esteeme

The words " _Don't worry. Don't worry Shiro-chan_ " played in the back of Toshiro's mind over and over again. His fingers were at first cold and wet as was the rest of his body but he felt his body slowly warming and being placed into a nice warm cacoon like area. Despite the fact his body shook and trembled, chills running through his body he felt to warm at times.

He could also feel himself going deeper and deeper into himself, heading into a dark deep circle of blackness. The only break from the darkness was the sudden flashes of memory of the adult males in his village beating on him and he could feel his body contorting, his back arching and the fear not going away.

One thought despite the fact he couldn't focus on anything kept repeating itself in his head just like the words his father spoke. " _Adults are cruel. Adults will beat a child for no good reason._ "

He went deeper and deeper into the darkness despite the fact he thought he heard Momo's voice once and finally he heard nothing. Letting out a deep breath he felt pure, delightful coldness. The coldness wasn't like feeling the cold rain pour down on him or the chills that had racked his body. It was a soft coldness that kissed his cheeks.

Which in itself was strange as a blizzard was storming around him, causing him to cover his face. Peeking through he finally saw the _thing_ in front of him and the snow slowed. The dragon pushed it's head forward. "Child... are you not afraid of me?"

Toshiro blinked a couple of times. " _No... I'm not afraid of him, not like the adults who beat me. I feel... safe._ "

He opened his mouth to say something, only to find himself unable to say anything at all. A hand reached up to touch his throat as he tried to force the words out of his throat. He looked at the dragon, trying to tell the dragon that he wasn't afraid but the words wouldn't come. And for some reason the thought he couldn't speak to the dragon hurt.

The creature settled it's head down, carefully moving it's head close to the boy and nudging him so that he stumbled a bit and was then forced to lie on top of the dragon. The position was comfortable and he felt his arms wrap around the dragon's head and he closed his eyes. " _I want to stay here._ "

"Child... I know without you speaking that you aren't afraid of me... you simply need to think it. However, you can't stay here. There are people waiting for you to wake up."

" _I'm scared. I'm scared to wake up. It feels like a part of me is gone._ "

"I know you're scared. You had a fever that hasn't gone away for a couple of days. I was finally able to step in and cool your temperature down. I don't know what damage has been done though." There came some silence from the dragon. "My name is..."

" _I don't care what your name is. Just don't leave me._ "

"I promise. I won't leave you. I'm a part of you, but it may take some getting used to the idea that I am around and you need to think for yourself. It is time to start waking up."

Toshiro choose to ignore this command and instead continued to hold onto the top of the dragon's head. Without realizing it he found himself going from the place the dragon was to another place. He became aware of the fact when he felt a soft cloth over his front, his small fingers moving, only to find that moving was a painful thing.

His two eyes opened up to a bright light and he suddenly found himself panicking as the fear of the men coming to get him took over. A woman with brown hair came into focus and he felt her small hands touch his shoulders. "Shush little one. You're safe."

" _Safe... safe means..._ "

"The people who hurt you are far away."

Toshiro could feel his breath coming fast as he tried to control his breathing, but the fear wouldn't go away. " _I wanna play with the dragon again! I wanna go back to sleep!_ "

"I'll go and have a message sent to Hinamori Momo that her brother is away."

The sound of adult male in the room caused a scream to leave his mouth that sounded quite inhuman. The child's body contorted. The woman turned her head. 'Kaien... leave. You should have known better."

The next thing he knew the woman was humming, one of her hands touching the child's cheek gently. She then began to sing a soft lullaby. For some reason the sound made him remember there was something he was missing and his chest suddenly racked with sobs as he tried to contain himself. He felt himself carefully lifted up and into the woman's arms and he could feel the tears come down.

" _What am I missing? What am I forgetting? Why can't I understand my own thought process or why I feel safe in this strangers arms? What is going on? I just remember..._ "

His body began to shake upon remembering the men beating him. Upon feeling him tense the woman began to rub his back. "Shush. I told you, they won't hurt you.'

" _I know that means I don't have to worry about that."_ The child's eyes snapped shut. " _But why... why is it the only thing I can think of or understand. The other thing is..._ " There came a pause in thoughts. " _To-chan. Is it to-chan that I am forgetting? Where did to-chan go. I was sure that he was here._ " He snuggled into the woman's arms.

" _Isn't this good enough for now. Be patient little one. Things will come with time. They always have. This person wants to take care of you and she will keep you safe. Why don't you try finding out her name?"_

Toshiro pulled away slightly so he could look at the woman, blinking a couple of times. The woman smiled down at him. "Your name is Toshiro, isn't it."

" _I think so._ " He tried saying something, but nothing came out of his mouth.

"My name is Shiba Miyako. I am so glad to finally get to meet you face to face." The smile had a calming sensation that made him close his eyes and simply snuggle into her arms.


	17. Self Worth

Pain shot through her back where she had been stabbed and a bright light caused her to flinch only to find that she had a problem moving. Rangiku slowly opened her eyes to see above her bright lights. Taking a deep breath she could feel the cold, wet clothes plastered to her body, her breath coming in a raspy manner.

She heard the sound of someone putting on plastic gloves and tried turning her head towards the sound only to find this impossible. The two people around her leaned over and she found herself looking up at the faces of the ninth and fifth division captains. "Why..."

"Why?" Aizen spoke in a rather candid manner. "I don't owe you an explanation Matsumoto Rangiku."

The man then reached up and grabbed the front of her clothing and pulled the wet uniform away from her skin and exposing her body to the elements. A shiver ran down her spine as he continued to remove her clothing. Her eyes snapped shut and tears ran down her cheeks. " _I thought... I thought the captain was different then this. I must be having a bad dream. That's why things are going on the way they are._ "

The next thing she knew he was carefully exploring her body with gloved hands starting with her mouth. "Did you know when a person buys a horse they examine the mouth to determine overall health?"

He let go of her mouth. "You are wanting me to respond?"

"Of course. This wouldn't be fun for me unless you did."

"You wouldn't be talking about me in such terms unless you're planning on treating me like a slave."

"Good girl." The man moved one hand to examine her arms from the finger tips to the shoulder joint before moving onto her chest area. She sighed a sigh of relief when he was finished only to suddenly feel him do something inappropriate.

"Please... stop." A whimper escaped her mouth.

"Didn't I make it clear that... you... are... a... slave." He continued to examine her, touching her in what was an obviously sexual manner. "And you should realize by now that this is no dream Matsumoto Rangiku."

Instead she choose to block out the experience and let him finish his examination wishing that she was instead dealing with Unohana. The man finished. "I see you're not a virgin."

Rangiku's eye's went wide, the truth that she thought only those who examined her in the forth division knew. " _He'll tell Gin._ "

The man paused. "I take it from your reaction that Gin doesn't know?" The woman swallowed, wishing she could sit up or even curl up into a ball. "He doesn't know, does he? He doesn't know that you're a whore, does he?"

Rangiku opened her mouth, the tears coming down her cheeks. " _I don't want him to know."_

"Perhaps we should get her into warm clothing. The place is cold and if shes' not taken care of she will become ill and there won't be a point to us taking her."

"Go and get some clothing for her. I wish to continue speaking with her." Tosen's footsteps could be heard going away. "This is a secret you've been hiding from him, hasn't it? What would he do if he knew? Chances are... knowing him, he would reject you."

Footsteps came back and Tosen helped her into fresh clothing before moving her into a cage like area for her to remain, shutting to door behind her. She found herself left then in the darkness.

**M**

The man left her alone, letting her become hungry and her stomach growling for food. He came back this time without Tosen and shoved the food towards her. "He knows that I have you. Of course, he's also been working for me for some time. We have a great deal of trust you could say."

Rangiku felt herself freeze suddenly. "I'm not going to let you wear me down."

"Yes... but you also don't want Gin-kun to know about your past."

" _It's not as if I remember my own past. I just know..."_ The woman looked away. " _I know I was with someone, that I had at least one child and that my past was bad. The conclusion anyone would come to is that I was a prostitute._ "

"I could tell him at any point you know, but if you obey me nothing will happen. Simple as that."

"If you want me to turn on Soul Society then the answer is no."

"I was thinking more along the lines of you becoming my lover, bearing my child or... well, what ever a _slave_ is expected to do. Or a prisoner of war, which ever you approve. It's not as if Gin isn't aware of the fact I can do as I please with you."

"Why?"

"Why? Because you're his heart and I was worried that may make him falter. I've groomed him too much to loose him because of some whim of the heart." The man reached forward and grabbed her head.

Rangiku closed her eyes. "I've had a chance to think while you left me here. My taicho knows where I am, so eventually he will find me."

"Why then did you end up in my trap?" Aizen narrowed his eyes at the female. "No one is going to come looking for you here. You've been labeled as dead. Gin... he knows that you aren't dead but he has no way of knowing how to find you."

The female narrowed her eyes. "Gin will find me."

"Because he loves you? Don't you remember him hesitating when you brought up the subject of having a family?" Aizen smirked at the woman. "You've been pretending to keep yourself for a man who has already given himself to someone. I'll let you think and ponder about what I just said."


	18. Full Worth

When the door slid open Kaien frowned and stared at the silver haired man wishing that the man had not chosen that point in time to show up. Gin had always been a strange child and despite the fact the child was now an adult there was quite a few times when Gin still acted like a child. He watched and listened as the man began to tease the female student. "This wouldn't happen to be because you're fixated on Aizen?"

Something felt off about this statement and he noticed that Izuru had also noticed the comment. He found himself standing up and using a book on the silver haired man's head. Out of caution he also tested the man's sleeves to see if he had anything hidden up them and managed to snag a bag that he in turn tucked into his own sleeves.

Changing the subject he found himself learning about the boy that had been left in his and Miyako's care. Hitsugaya Toshiro was the child's name and while Momo bragged about how sweet the child was there were a few times she noted that the child would do some mean things like spitting watermelon seeds at him. Eventually though it became late and he sent her and her friends back to the academy promising to send a pass so they could visit when they weren't in classes.

Gin of course had eventually slipped away, having grown bored with the conversation that was being had. He stood up and headed back to the room, his fingers touching the bag. Gingerly he plucked it from his sleeve and choose to open the bag, pausing when he saw that the item was food. Carefully he reached his fingers in hoping that he wouldn't regret trying whatever it was.

As soon as he tasted the food he closed the bag knowing full well there would be no negative effect. " _Amanatto._ " Letting out a deep breath he headed to the room where the child was staying and opeend the door. He waved his hand and greeted them only to find himself kicked out as the child had a negative reaction to the noise he made. Thus he had time to think.

Carefully looking at the bag his mind began to think. " _That little girl told me that the boy's favorite food was amanatto. Coincidence?_ "

" _You have no proof._ "

" _Gin said that the girl was fixated on Aizen. I'm guessing that is true because Izuru ended up reacting as if it were true. How would he know that unless he's been watching the girl from the distance. No... it hasn't been the girl he's been watching from the distance. It has been that boy._ "

" _You said that you weren't going to push for finding out the boy's past._ "

" _Yes... I said I wouldn't. Eventually I know I'm going to find out. It is more that I'm in no rush to find out at this point in time. I want to see the child get better._ " He then slipped into the room and handed Miyako the candy and whispered this time around. "Put this with the toy why don't you."

"You found another gift?"

"Something like that."

"You're keeping something from me."

"Don't worry. I'll tell you in a bit. I want to focus on getting the child better."

"Did you learn anything about the child from the girl?" Miyako smiled at him.

"Yes. The boy's name is Hitsugaya Toshiro and his sisters name is Hinamori Momo."

"If he makes it we could possibly adopt them both."

Kaien blinked a couple of times. A smirk spread across his face while he put his arms behind his head. "I thought you told me not to get hopes up."

"Even if he doesn't make it we should take her in. If he's gone then her family is gone and she has no home to go to outside of whatever division she's to go into."

"I'm wondering if she's even going to graduate. She's kind of a ditz."

"That's mean to say. Do I need to go and get Unohana to treat you with medicine simply because your being mean? You know she would _love_ doing it."

"No, no." Kaien let out a deep breath. "She's kind of clueless about things. I think she honestly believes that little Shiro-chan will get better, s I really don't want to dash that hope. She hasn't heard her zampaktuo yet either."

"So?"

"She's a sixth year."

"Oh." There came another silence. "This is coming from someone who graduated early of course along with his twin brother."

"Ahh..." The man leaned back. "Gin's in a bad mood by the way."

"Do you blame him."

" _No... I mean... if he is attached to the boy like I believe..._ "

"Rangiku's dead. I'm still trying to get over that fact she's gone." The woman let out a soft laugh. "You know... if she were around she'd be wanting to squish this child into her bosom and coo into his ear about making him feel all better with lots and lots of love."

"That sounds like her." Kaien folded his arms across his chest.

**M**

Kaien found himself watching the child, waiting for him to wake. The child simply lay there without moving. The first change that was noticed was a change in the room's temperature which for some strange reason helped to regulate the child's temperature. The child's body also became more relaxed and the fukutaicho of the thirteenth division found himself sitting on the edge of his chair as he waited patiently.

Miyako remained close to the child as Kaien's voice would cause the child to flail. He watched as her eyes widened with delight and a grin spread across her face. There was a slight stirring from the bed and the woman leaned forward. A sound of pain escaped from the child's lips and he watched as Miyako stood up and placed her hands onto the child's shoulders. "Shush little one. The people who hurt you are far away."

Kaien found himself standing up. "I'll go and have a message sent to Hinamori Momo that her brother is away."

It was then that the child freaked out. "Kaien... leave. You should have known better."

Letting out a deep sigh he slipped out of the room, his arms going behind his head. " _Well... since I'm obviously not welcome I'll go and get Hinamori Momo myself. At least though the kid made it and is alive. I'll have to think of a way of letting Gin know without giving away his secret._ "


	19. Full Focus

If Momo had her way she would have stayed by Toshiro's side, but instead she found herself heading back to class. Her mind focused on the fact her little brother was not doing well rather then focusing on her studies. A teacher pulled her aside and told her about their concern. She tried smiling at them knowing full well they were right about her concentrating on her school work.

The one place she found she could focus was in the school library as it was nice and quiet and she simply told Izuru and Renji that she wanted some peace and quiet in order to study in peace. She sat there looking over the notes for the test that was coming up at the end of the week, her fingers tapping on the table. She leaned on one hand as the material frustrated her. " _It's kido. This is supposed to be my strong point. My only strong point..._ "

The sound of the chair across from her moving caused her to look up in time to see a male academy student sitting across from her. "Um..."

"Sorry, but it looked like you were lost in your studies and wouldn't notice if I sat down here." The boy opened up his text book.

Momo glanced at the book. "Actually... I'm not able to study as I'm worried about something."

Silence came then and hung for a few minutes. The young man spoke then. "I might as well introduce myself. I'm Kusaka Sojiro."

"Hinamori Momo." The girl brushed off what he was saying, looking at the book in front of her as her frustration grew.

More silence came as her cheeks puffed out and finally the boy spoke up. "I would offer to study with you as I recognize you as being in the same year, but for some reason I don't think that is what you need." The book snapped shut. "Would you like someone to talk too?'

Momo felt her hands clenched. "I have friends you know."

"But sometimes you don't want to be a burden to those friends, correct?"

The female paused, then looked up at the boy. "They've already helped with the problem enough and it really is a family issue."

She watched as the boy's mouth opened and then he let out a deep breath. "I forgot. The rumor going around is that you're the girl who had time off to go to her grandmother's funeral."

"Do you listen to the rumors that go around?" She watched as the boy looked at the ceiling.

"Not normally. I mean, it's kind of hard not to hear them when your classmates are talking about those things. I mean to say I don't go out of my way to find out about these rumors. I prefer my studies." His finger went up into the air. "The kind of rumors I'm interested in is who happens to be my competition for the valedictorian position when we graduate and the person that is the most competition is Izuru Kira."

"I'm one of his friends." Momo blinked a couple of times. She watched as the young man's mouth twitched. Something clicked and she stood up and spoke loudly. "Wait! You're the student who keeps beating him grade wise!

"This is a library you know." The young male let out a sigh. "You know, I was going to apologize as I thought you had taken insult that I saw one of your friends as competition but you seem fine with it."

The small female sat down. "Umm... well, it does sound a bit like you feel that Izuru is no competition at all, but I also knows it frustrates him that you beat him. He scored the highest on the entrance test."

"That's the reason I thought he would be my best competition." The young man looked up at the ceiling. "I guess my hope was that a child genius would come through the academy our generation."

Momo felt her body freeze. "Wait... what do you mean by that?"

A grin spread across the young man's face. "I doubt I would actually be able to have the valedictorian position if a child genius came through, but I would have competition and I would have something to work on surpassing."

"So... the grades for you aren't an issue of passing but of having something to strive for?"

"Yes. What I really wanted was a rival as I went up the ranks as a shinigami, kind of like how Kyoraku and Ukitake Taicho were friendly rivals. But I'm honestly out of luck. There is no child genius this year."

Momo felt her body shake. " _But there should have been one. Toshiro should have been here, with me at the academy and by my side. Kaien-dono... he said Shiro-chan was supposed to be gifted._ " The small female closed her eyes and felt a few sobs come out.

"Sorry... did I say something wrong? I mean... I guess it's not something someone would understand."

"That's not it." The girl let out a hiccup as she looked at the ground. She heard the scrapping of the chair from across her.

"Walk with me. You need a place where you can just cry to your hearts content, though I honestly don't know what is going on. It's rather nice outside of the library right now." Momo stood up, only to bump into the table. The male carefully took her hand and led her out and she found herself sitting on the bench. He sat down next to her.

"Mind telling me why I managed to make you cry?"

Another hiccup came. "There... there was supposed to be a child genius this year."

There came silence from the male. The cheerful tone left his voice. "What do you mean by that?"

"Being a child genius... that would be a child whose reiatsu is on the level of a third seat untrained and has the potential to eventually become a captain level shinigami, right?"

"Yes... but how do you know this? Actually... how do you know of such a child." Sojiro let out a sigh.

"Isn't it common knowledge?" Momo looked up, trying to blink back the tears. "Am I not the only person who couldn't see it?"

The boy frowned. "I'm not sure what you're saying here. There aren't many people who would be able to discern whether a person was of that level. It would take someone of that level or higher and even then..."

"Kaien-dono told me Shiro-chan is of a third seat untrained."

"Ka..." The boy paused. "You mean the fukutaicho of the thirteenth division? And whose Shiro-chan?"

"Shiro-chan's my baby brother."

"Wait..." The young man shook his head. "If he's your little brother then that means he is smaller then you, right?"

Momo glanced at the sky. "Last time I checked Shiro-chan came to my shoulder."

"But something is obviously upsetting you."

"Shiro-chan is in a coma in the forth division right now."

"This just after your grandmother's funeral?"

"It was Shiro-chan's reiatsu that killed her."

"And you don't blame him?"

"Why should I?" Momo turned to glare at him.

"Because it is his fault despite the fact he didn't mean it." The corner of Sojiro's mouth turned up slightly. "To be honest most people in the Rukongai would be terrified. Are you of a noble family?"

"No..." The girl shook her head. "The first thing I learned when I got to my village was that Shiro-chan was missing. Some of the villagers had decided to beat him up because they knew it was his reiatsu that killed granny. But... Shiro-chan... Shiro-chan tried getting help but no one listened to him. I just want him to get better."

There came silence as more tears came down the girls cheeks. Shojiro look up the sky. "Would you let me know when your brother gets better? I'd like to meet him sometime."

"Why?" Momo shook her head.

"Well... I told you, I was looking for someone to be a friendly rival with that I could push my own skills with so I can be a better Shinigami."

"He might not be training to be a Shinigami for some time. Kaien and Miyako-dono don't know if he will mentally be... I'm not sure what it is that they told me but I know that while he may have healed physically there may be something about his mind that needs healing and that can take years."

"Still... I'd like to know. Even if I keep pushing myself so that he eventually has something to catch up to I have a goal."

A rather loud yelling sound was hear. "Hey! Hinamori!"

Momo blinked a couple of times. "Kaien-dono?"

Everyone stared as he approached the girl, panting as he did. "Your little brother. He's waking up. Miyako is with him now, but I received permission from the head master to bring you straight there."

A smile spread across Momo's face. Despite feeling glad the tears still came down her cheeks.


	20. Non Focus

The word safe kept running through Toshiro's mind as he snuggled into the woman's arms. She eventually lay him back down so he could continue to rest and his knees pulled up to his chest as well as his arms. Absent mindlessly his thumb slipped into his mouth. " _Is To-chan coming?_ "

The bed felt warm and the woman took the time to touch him ever so often and adjusted the bedding as he needed it. Somehow she knew what he needed and eventually he fell back to sleep. Someone else also came in and tended to him. The sound of someone's voice caused him to startle awake. "I thought you said he was coming out of the comma?"

"He did." Miyako's hands reached out to him and he could feel her hand stroking his shoulder helping him to calm down.

" _That other voice is familiar._ " The boy simply lay on his side staring at the woman. Another person was also in the room.

"Shiro-chan?"

"Momo, he's not..."

Toshiro felt his body suddenly seize, the palm of his hand almost hitting the woman while his body moved without his willing it. The child felt his body continue to spasm while the woman spoke in a calming voice, again lecturing the Kaien person about speaking near him.

"Shiro-chan!"

"You can't hurry over here Momo. You have to approach him in a gentle manner and touch him gently." Miyako let out a sigh.

"But he's my little brother."

" _What does the word brother mean?_ "

" _It means that you have a connection with someone._ "

" _I know her voice. Why?_ "

The sound of foot steps were heard coming closer. The woman helped him to sit up so he could see the person. His eye's widened upon seeing her, his body beginning to shake as another memory came flying back at body began to shake as he tried to force the memory away but instead it came flying back. Except this time it was as if it was happening right in front of him and he knew it was different from what he remembered.

" _Shiro-chan! I came to tell you again about how amazing he is. However..._ " There came a pause and he thought he saw her face twist up into a cruel smile. " _Aizen didn't come and save you because you aren't amazing. You're as significant as the ground people walk upon. That's why I didn't come to rescue you. You mean nothing to me._ "

Tears began to pour down his cheek as the image fluttered and he saw the horrified look on the girl's face. For some reason the words " _I'm a monster... I'm a monster..._ " kept playing in the back of his head. He tried pulling away from the woman but Miyako as she called herself instead pulled him closer. "Perhaps it is best that he not see Momo just yet."

For some reason the girl in front of him was crying and his mind tried to wrap around why. The terror that racked his body though wasn't letting him think straight and he watched as someone guided her from the room. However, his line of vision didn't cover that point as he was focused on the one female. When she was gone the room stopped spinning and he noticed two other females in the room.

He felt Miyako suddenly move from simply sitting beside the bed to moving to where she sat on the bed. The woman pulled him into her arms and he found himself sitting in her lap. The arms wrapped around him as if he was in a cacoon and he burried his face into the woman's chest so that he couldn't see any of the outside stimilace. This didn't though cut off the sound.

"Unohana Taicho... what is wrong with him."

" _Yes... there is something wrong with me. I am a monster._ "

"The poor child is terrified of something."

"But Momo's a sweetheart. We've all spoken to her and there is no reason for him to be afraid of her. Yet he reacted as if she were a monster to him much like how we would suspect him to react to males because of what happened."

" _Momo's a monster?_ "

"I can't really explain it." These words came from the woman who had called him a poor child.

" _I like her."_

The woman continued to speak. "We just need to give him some time to adjust."

" _Momo's not a monster."_

"However, it would perhaps be a good idea to limit who has contact with him."

" _I am."_

"There is less of a chance that there will be a negative reaction."

" _I don't understand what they're talking about."_

"He's reacting fine to all of us so perhaps us three?" Miyako spoke then and he found himself calming and pulling into her arms more.

" _I'm also a brother whatever that means._ "

"He seems to like you a lot Miyako." The other woman who wasn't identified as Unohana spoke then.

"I find that I like him as well. It's hard to believe that someone would think this little angel was a monster." A hand reached up and began to stroke the back of his head, playing with his hair and continuing to cause him to calm down. The other hand began to massage his back.

" _I'm not a monster?_ "

" _No. Miyako-dono thinks you're an angel._ "

" _Is that a good thing?_ " There came no answer but he had the feeling that it was a good thing as the words made him feel good. The wish though to actually understand what they were saying remained. Something also told him there was a time when he actually did understand and comprehend the conversation going on around him.

"From what I can tell he is an angel as well. What he needs is a lot of love and affection as well as time for us to understand him."


	21. Non Existence

"I really can't explain it." There came a pause in what Unohana had to say before she continued to speak. "We just need to give him some time to adjust. However, it perhaps would be a good idea to limit who has contact with him as there is less of a chance there will be a negative reaction." After Miyako spoke Unohana noted something. "He seems to like you a lot Miyako."

"I like him as well." Eventually the child dozed off and Miyako took the time to tuck him into the bedding, a smile spreading across her face. "What should our first step to getting him better be?"

"We really need to start by working on his ability to move and building up his physical strength. We also need to work with him on eating so that he maintains his health." The woman slipped from the room.

Eventually the child woke again and Unohana brought back a trey of food and set it onto the table. Miyako helped the boy up and began to spoon feed the rice porridge into the boy's mouth. The boy at first kept his mouth shut, not wishing to open his mouth but a soft humming sound of a lullaby caused him to open his mouth.

The woman watched as Toshiro's eyes widened from eating the food and his small tongue lapped out allowing her to put another spoonful into his mouth. Some of the food spilled out but his mouth finally began to move the way he wanted. She stopped finally when she felt that he had enough and the boy's mouth twisted up into a pout.

Lying him back down into the bed she shook her head. "It's been awhile since you've physically eaten. You need to take it slowly. If you're good you'll get a treat. If you don't eat like you should it means yucky medicine and I don't want to give you yucky medicine."

Slowly then began the process of building the child's muscle strength and after a few days he could move slightly on his own but not pick up his own spoon to feed himself. Instead the boy pushed the spoon around on the trey watching as it moved, slowly changing the position of things by nudging them back and forth.

Miyako frowned as she watched the child, her head moving up as Unohana came into the room. "He's not acting like a normal child."

"No, he isn't." The woman folded her arms. "I'll bring something after you feed him. I want to see how he reacts to the item."

The third seat of the thirteenth division took away the spoon, causing the boy to give her a horrified look. This lasted until the spoon was filled with food and he reacted by opening his mouth. After he finished eating she took the trey away, his small hand reaching out to touch the items. Unohana came in then with a new trey.

"I think you'll like these better." The woman set down the trey.

Miyako blinked a couple of times. "Toy blocks?"

Unohana went and sat in the other chair. "Why don't you watch what he does with them?"

Miyako watched as Toshiro pushed the blocks around on the trey much as he had done with the items on his food trey, but then he blinked a couple of times and began to organize the blocks in different manners, pushing them around but not building anything with the shapes. "I'm honestly not understanding the point of this."

"It is a way of figuring out how his mind works without us telling us how he himself thinks." Unohana turned her head as Isane came in with a trey of tea. Upon her entry the boy's head darted up, his hands reaching for the new item.

"It is hot Toshiro." Miyako took her own tea. "You can have some of mine when it has cooled a bit."

The boy frowned, but then went back to pushing the blocks. Isane went over to see what he was doing. "That's a face with a frown."

Miyako got up, setting her tea on the night stand. "Toshiro... can you make other pictures." The boy blinked a couple of times before arranging the blocks in an odd shape. A smile spread across his face as he pointed to the blocks. The woman frowned, shaking her head. "Gomenasai. I can't figure out what that is."

She watched as the boy frowned. He began to move to of the small blocks. Unohana stood up and looked at the item in question. "Is the thing your talking about an animal?"

The boy paused, a rather surprised look on his face. His eyes began to dart around as if he was looking for something but then his head darted back to the trey. Instead of giving an answer he began to move the blocks around again. Isane smiled. "Ahh... I know what that is. It is a flower."

Miyako paused. "Perhaps the blocks aren't good enough for him to illustrate what he wants us to see?'

"I'd give him paper to draw on but he's struggling with picking up items so he wouldn't be able to pick up a pen or pencil. I'll try to think of an alternative though.

It was then that the women noticed the child's hand reaching for the cup. The third seat reached out to stop him. "Toshiro! No!"

The sudden sound of the glass crashing onto the floor occurred as the child's hand bumped into the cup. The next thing they knew the boy was moving away from the sound, the trey of blocks scattering across the bed. Miyako hurried over to the other side of the bed and pulled the boy into her arms. "Hey... it's all right. I told you. You are safe. You're not in trouble. I just don't want you to get hurt, all right."

The trembling stopped and she pulled the boy into her arms. She began to sing a soft song and stroke his head. "How long till Momo-chan can see him? It's rather sad that the two siblings have to be apart?"

"I don't know. We could try in a few days I think, but the reaction may not be a good one."


	22. True Existence

The "food" as they called it tasted good in his his mouth whatever tasting good meant. He knew that he knew what it meant but things simply wouldn't come to him. The dripping of the food down his chin didn't feel good but Miyako was good at wiping it away. Eventually he was able to eat it, none to pleased that she wouldn't let him have more.

Food came and went and he was finally able to sit up. He tried holding the spoon in the same manner Miyako did but found that his fingers weren't wanting to work right so he instead found himself pushing the items around on the trey. He watched as the items moved and for some reason his mind to great interest in this rather then "eating". That was at least until Miyako fed him.

It was then that they brought in the colored blocks. Again, he had an idea of what they were but his mind didn't want to focus on that. Instead his mind focused on the bright colors and shapes, his hands touching the blocks and moving the items around organizing them by colors. He found himself not listening to what the "women" said.

The door opened up and his head jerked up and a thought when through his mind. " _Adults are mean."_ He then realized it was the one they called Isane who had come to see him. _"Women are nice. Women must not be adults._ "

" _I don't think that is how it works young master._ "

" _It works for me. I am fine with this."_ He noticed that Isane had a trey for her and his hands went out. " _Yummy or pretty thing?_ " Miyako of course said what he knew to mean "no" and he went back to his "pretty things" on the other trey. " _I want her to know how I feel._ "

It was then that he rearranged the blocks onto the trey into a frown and to his pleasure the women took notice of what he was doing and Miyako asked if he could make something else. An excitement came to him and he rearranged the blocks to look like his "friend."

" _It doesn't look like me._ "

" _I don't have any of that color. It is you though._ " Of course the women seemed to agree with the "friend" of his. He grabbed the mouth pieces and moved them.

"Is the thing you're talking about an animal?"

Toshiro paused. " _Is a dragon an animal? That doesn't sound right._ " He then went back to moving the blocks around. " _Oh well._ " He paused, catching out of the corner of his eye that Miyako had set her cup on the table. He couldn't resist and reached out, forgetting that holding things was a problem. The "woman" was upset with him but the noise bothered him far more.

He found himself wrapped int her arms as he calmed down. " _Why... why can't I?_ "

He found himself slipping into that special world of his that allowed him to escape and smiled up at the dragon. " _Hello!_ "

"Hello little one."

" _Are they mad at me?_ "

"No."

Hearing that felt good. " _Why can't I understand things?_ "

The dragon paused. "I don't know. You honestly understand everything I've said to you."

" _Is a dragon an animal?_ "

"A dragon is a mythical animal, but _dragon_ is only one of my forms."

" _How do you make the color you are?_ "

"I don't know."

" _How do you make any kind of color?_ "

"I don't know."

Toshiro felt his mouth twist up into a frown. " _You're no fun._ " There came a pause. " _Do you want to play?_ "

"Not especially."

" _Do you want to snuggle?_ "

"I can live with that."

The boy found himself hurrying over to the dragon and sinking into the coils, his body relaxing and forgetting about what had occurred. The next day to his delight Unohana brought him a new trey with pots of color and sheets of paper. She sat on the bed while Miyako watched.

She stuck her finger into the pot with yellow in it and placed some on a paper. She then tipped another finger into the blue paint and blended them together to make green. A smile spread on Toshiro's face and he stuck a finger on each hand into a pot of different color, this time making the color purple. He tried again and got orange.

" _Try white and blue._ "

" _Your color._ "

"Do you like that color Toshiro?" Unohana asked.

" _What does it mean to like a color?_ "

"I need to do some things around the division Miyako. Momo is going to come by. If he doesn't react negatively around her it is all right to take a break and let her take care of him as she has the day off from school."

He then found himself occupied with making his first picture. " _Not big enough._ "

He didn't notice when Momo came into the room or when Miyako left but he did look towards the wall. " _That looks big enough._ "

"Would you like to play with the paints on the floor Shiro-chan." He felt the trey lifted up off of his lap and he moved over to the edge of the bed and lowered himself to the ground. The trey was set on the ground and he heard the girl speak again. "I should probably get some water and towels to wash your hands in. I'll be right back, so you be good."

He didn't realize then that he was alone and took the light blue color and began to draw on the wall, drawing a very big dragon onto the wall. The picture wasn't as neat as he wanted but he began to add in darker colors for the darker spots as well as the red spots for the eyes. " _This looks like you, doesn't it._ " Silence came. " _Doesn't it look like you?_ "

There came silence for a third time and then the dragon fianly spoke up. " _Yes... but... how to put this one..._ "

" _Put what?_ "

The sound of something crashing on the ground caused him to skitter towards the corner in time to see Momo looking at him in shock, the water bowl and towels on the floor where she had left them. "Shiro-chan... what have you done?"

Looking down she picked up the wet cloth. She at first went to clean the wall, only to hear a strangled sound escape the boy's lips as the cloth went to touch the dragon. Letting out a sigh she began to work on the floor, cleaning up the mess. It was then that Miyako came back, stopping short in the door way. "Momo-chan! What happened?"

"I went to go get water and towels to wash his hands."

"But how did the paints get on the ground?"

"I thought he wanted to pain on the floor on his tummy. When I brought books home when we were younger he always read them that way. I didn't think he would do this. I'll clean it up."

Miyako let out a deep sigh. "No... clean the floor. Let Unohana see what he painted first. I'll be back as soon as I get her. The woman slipped out of the room and a few minutes later she came back with Unohana. The older woman looked at the wall. Momo turned towards the woman. "Please don't be mad at Shiro-chan! I'm the one who left him unsupervised when I went to get something to clean him up."

The forth division taicho turned to the boy. "Toshiro... did you draw this pretty picture?" The boy smiled and then crawled over past Momo, tracking more of the paint across the floor as he went. Sitting towards the head he pointed up to the dragon. "Is this what you were trying to show us yesterday."

" _It's him! It's him! It's my friend._ "

Momo spoke up next to him. "It looks like a monster."

The smile left Toshiro's face. " _He's not a monster._ "

"He's not a monster, is he." Unohana came over and knelt in front of the boy.

" _No, he's not."_

"What is his name... or is it a she."

" _It's a he... name?_ "

" _I've tried giving you my name._ "

"Is this your zampaktuo spirit?"

Toshiro gave her a confused look. " _What is a zampaktuo spirit. I recognize the word zampaktuo though I can't place it, but not zampaktuo spirit._ "

Momo blinked a couple of times. "Wait... how can Shiro-chan be in contact with his zampaktuo when I'm not yet?"

Unohana reached out and ruffled the boy's white head of hair. "He as a higher reiatsu level. It may have been why his reiatsu started effecting your granny. His zampaktuo's been trying to talk to him. _"_

" _Zampaktuo is nice._ "

" _That isn't my name._ "

" _It isn't? Oh well."_

" _Are you fine with me not telling you my name._ "

" _I'm just happy you're there._ "

Miyako frowned. "Unohana... what exactly is his zampaktuo spirit."

Unohana looked back at the picture. "I have an honest idea." She scooped Toshiro up then. Why don't we get you into a nice bath while Miyako and Momo clean up everything but that nice picture of yours. The baths aren't far and Isane can help me."

Momo spoke again. "Are you sure that his picture can stay?"

"It just means we know we can't give him finger paints or anything like that at this point of time."


	23. True Feelings

"What do you mean you can't see your little brother?" Izuru looked up at Momo in surprise. "I mean, he is your little brother."

"Shiro-chan didn't like seeing me." Momo sat down at the table and stared at her food.

"Wait..." Renji blinked a couple of times. "How can he not like seeing you?"

"I don't know. I just know that Shiro-chan couldn't stop shaking when he saw me."

"Did they say this was a permanent thing?"

"No. They said he just needs to have a chance to recover a bit. At least that is what they hope. It may take awhile."

A few footsteps were heard coming their way and someone spoke up. "Hinamori-san... about your brother, how is he doing."

Momo blinked a couple of time. Izuru froze up as he looked at the person, his mouth dropping. Renji however turned to look at the person with his eyes narrowed. "Um... who are you."

Izuru blinked a couple of times. "You don't know who he is? That is so like you!"

The small female smiled. "Renji, Izuru... this is Kusaka Sojiro."

The blond academy student blinked a couple of times, his mouth dropping again. Renji however waved his hand. "Well... who is he?"

"He's a friend." Momo didn't notice the corner of Izuru's mouth twitch slightly.

"I was wondering if I could sit with you guys."

"Sure, sure... a friend of Momo's is ours." Renji waved the young man in before turning to look at Izuru. "Is something the matter?"

Sojiro gave the blond academy student a look of pity but choose not to say anything. "Anyways... how is your brother doing."

"He's not able to look at Momo." Izuru blurted out in a rather fast manner.

"Oh..." The boy frowned. "Well... I doubt that will last long. You are his nee-chan that cares about him a lot are you not."

"Um..." The blond's hands clenched together. "How much do you know about the situation?"

"Quite a bit." The boy paused. "I'd say more, but I honestly don't know how much you two know."

"They came to granny's funeral and are fully aware of what the village did to Toshiro." Momo began to eat her food.

Sojiro spoke then, "Well... Hinamori thought of her little brother first and hasn't thought of accusing him. Most people would if you think about it, which I think about it." There came a bit of silence as Izuru glared at him. "That said, just wait patiently. I'm quite sure your friends will agree that they'[ll wait with you on this."

**M**

A note came from Unohana and Momo's eyes widened. A smile spread across her face and she clutched the paper to her chest. She stood up then to hurry out of the dorm room only to have a couple of girls stop her. "Hinamori... where are you running off too."

The female didn't read the tone in their voice. "I've received a pass from Unohana Taicho to visit forth division."

"Why are you getting to visit forth division? You're far from being the best student."

Momo blinked a couple of times. "Unohana Taicho is taking care of my little brother. She wants to try having me visit him again as it's our day off. She's hoping that he won't react negatively this time."

"Why did he react negatively?" One of the girls laugh.

"It's not funny." The small female's cheeks puffed out. "Shiro-chan got seriously hurt by some people and he has trust issues because of it." The girls opened their mouths as if to apologize but Momo was off having already brushed off the fact they had laughed. She hurried towards the forth and found Miyako sitting in the room reading a book.

She opened her mouth to speak to her little brother but quickly found her hands clapping over her mouth. "I forgot. I have to be quiet around him."

"Ahh... Unohana said you could try watching him for a bit if he didn't react negatively to your presence. Toshiro, can you look up to see who is here?" Miyako's response got he boy to glance up. It wasn't as if he saw her and he went straight back to what he was doing.

Momo walked over. "He's painting."

"Yes. I'm going to go and take a lunch break, so you keep an eye on him."

The small girl took the seat that the other female vacate and watched the child. She watched as he looked to the side of the bed. "Would you like to play with the paints on the floor?" She smiled at him and headed over to pick up the trey for him. " _This is just like when he read those books. He's back to normal._ "

She watched as the child moved to the floor, carefully lowering himself over the side of the bed, getting the paints onto the sheets and then the floor as he crawled over to the spot. She set the trey down and looked at the mess he was making on the floor. " _That's not a good thing, but he's honestly meaning no harm._ " She leaned forward. "I should probably get some water and towels to wash your hands in. I'll be right back, so you be good."

She hurried off forgetting that she didn't know her way around the division, thus it took quite a bit of time for her to find what she wanted to find. " _Shiro-chan is such a good child. I can't understand why..._ " It was then that she turned the corner and the bowl dropped form her hands as she saw the _mess_. "Shiro-chan... what have you done?"

The boy of course skittered back at hearing the bowl smash and looked her right in the eye without looking away. His eyes were glazed over. Letting out a sigh she decided to clean the mess up. However, when she went to go and clean the mess on the wall her little brother let out a sound letting her know he was upset at the idea of her doing this.

Looking over she frowned. " _I can't erase it. I mean, he's already dealing with a lot and he doesn't think he didn't do anything wrong. He didn't mean to... like with granny._ "

Miyako came in and then went to go and get Unohana. Toshiro flinched when she called what he had drawn a monster. Unohana then said something that surprised her. "Is that your zampaktuo spirit?"

The words for some reason stung. She set to work cleaning things up with Miyako, taking the bedsheets and replacing them with something else. "Why did Unohana let him have paints?"

"She let him have some blocks yesterday and he tried communicating with them."

"Toshiro can read and write. Why isn't he making words with the blocks?"

"I don't know. That is honestly an interesting question. He seems focused on the visual side of things. I think that thing on the wall was what he was trying to show us yesterday, but there were no blocks that were the color of that thing." The two walked to a particular place in order to get fresh sheets.

"You know... I didn't think it would take me that long to get a bowl of water and towels, but I forgot that I don't know my way around this pace.

"You were just trying to be a big sister and take care of him." The woman went into the room and they spread the sheet across the bed before she sat and looked at the painting. "You said that your brother learned to read and write? Did he have training in drawing and painting as well?"

"That's not something someone of our status could afford." Momo looked at the picture. "Why do you ask?"

"That is pretty good for someones first time, particularly with finger paints of all things."

"Yes... but does it look like what he sees? I see that thing as a monster. Is it how he sees himself?"

"No. I mean, Unohana specifically said that she knew what it was. She also knew it was his zampaktuo spirit. He was also becoming frustrated yesterday because there was a limit to what he could do with the blocks he was given. Staking them hadn't crossed his mind at all either."

"It's kind of scary."

"Your little brother doesn't seem to be afraid of it though." The woman paused, a smile spreading across her face. "You know... maybe this will help him. Think of it this way. It's not the big scary monster that tries to eat little children, it's the one that keeps those monsters away and keeps the children safe at night."

"Is that why Unohana decided to leave it?"

"Probably."

**M**

Momo was yet again picking at her food when the three boys came to sit with her. Izuru remained silent as did Sojiro. Renji though was blunt. "What's the matter? I mean, why so gloomy? Something happen to Toshiro?"

"Did it?" Sojiro's head darted up.

"You know... if I wasn't mistaken the reason you're interested in being friends with Momo is because of her brother."

Both the small female and the purple haired academy student spoke at the same time. "That is true."

Izuru blinked a couple of times as his jaw dropped. Renji though waved his hand. 'Seriously... something happened to your brother?"

"Shiro-chan decided to paint one of the forth division walls with finger paint." None of them spoke and this caused her to look up. "What? I'm telling the truth!"

Renji let out a laugh and slapped her leg. "Oh boy! Your little brother is something else."

"What did he draw Momo?" Izuru asked.

"I don't know exactly what it was, but Unohana taicho says it was his zampaktuo spirit."

"What..." The blond haired boy's mouth dropped.

Renji though countinued laughing. "Wow. Amazing."

"That's not really surprising though." Sojiro spoke up.

"Why? Why is that not surprising? Momo hasn't even contacted her zampaktuo spirit yet and her little brother is... well, I'm not sure what to call it."

"He's met his zampaktuo." Sojiro continued to eat. "Is it really that surprising as he is a child genius? Chances are his zampaktuo was trying to get him to hear it's name. It's amazing as he's so little."

"Yeah... but... wouldn't that make it the zampaktuo's fault and not his that his granny died?" Renji folded his arms across his chest.

"No... a..."

Izuru found himself interrupted by Sojiro, which caused him to glare at the boy. "No. He and his zampaktuo are part of the same person. A spirit represents who you are."

"Wait... is the zampaktuo a monster because Shiro-chan sees himself as a monster?"

Silence came again and then Renji held up his chopsticks. "Does Toshiro think of this monster as a monster?"

"No. He got upset when I called it a monster."

"Then it's not a monster." Renji clicked his chopsticks a couple of times. "It's something else." There came a pause then and he then spoke again. "You know... I think I would like to see this _monster_ as you call it."

"Unfortunately Shiro-chan doesn't want to be around males."


	24. Fiery Feelings

"Unohana..." The captain of the forth division looked up to see that Miyako had come into the room and had a look that said she was upset about something. "You need to come and see what the boy did."

"What the boy did?"

"I don't think giving him paints was perhaps the best idea."

The taicho stood up and followed the rather distraught third seat of the thirteenth division. When she walked into the room her eyes were drawn to the mural that now adorned the lower part of the wall. " _Now isn't that something. That's what he was trying to show us yesterday and it is no animal._ " The woman turned towards him without smiling. "Toshiro... did you draw this pretty picture?"

" _Paint is the better word for it._ " She watched as the child skittered across the floor and pointed to what she had believed to be the head.

"Is this what you were trying to show us yesterday?" She watched as the child's excitement grew until Momo called the thing a monster. "He's not a monster, is he?" Kneeling in front of the boy she watched as his excitement grew again. "What is his name?" The boy's face twisted up into a look of surprise. She continued to speak with him and finally turned to answer Momo's question.

"He has a highter reiatsu level. It may have been why his reiatsu started effecting your granny. His zampaktuo's been trying to talk to him." The woman scooped the child up int her arms. "Why don't we get you into a nice bath while Miyako and Momo clean up everything but that nice picture of yours. The baths aren't far and Isane can help me."

" _And of course no more finger paints for him_. _He's a little monster in the same way dragons are prone to being monsters._ "

" _Yes, that is true. He also seems pleased with himself and the fact he was able to show that dragon to us._ "

The woman set him down in the bath room and held him up so he was in a standing position. Isane came into the room and the older woman turned to her fukutaicho. "I would like you to send a message to Yamamoto that there is something I want him to see in Toshiro's room."

"Something you want him to see?" Isane blinked a couple of times. "He really did paint the wall like everyone is talking about. Even the male members of the division know despite not being allowed in the hall. What was it that he painted."

The tall female came over and while the taicho of the forth held Toshiro she dumped a bucket of water over the boy's head. Unohana lifted the child up and into the tub watching as his interested shifted to the bath water. "Something that he will recognize and be interested in." She watched as Toshiro moved his arms forward in an easy manner under the water. "Time to get all that filth off. It probably feels good to finally have a bath doesn't it?"

No verbal response of course came from Toshiro. Instead the child began to move his legs in the water to a steady rhythm. Isane smiled at him. "He seems to love baths. We should make sure that he gets a bath daily."

"It's not a bad idea as it will help him recover his ability to move on his own." The woman stayed with the child watching him play as Isane slipped out to send the message. The boy began to hum a tune to an old lullaby. When the rather tall woman came back she leaned over the tub. "Toshiro... it's time to get out."

She began to lift the boy up and a look of utter disappointment spread across his face. He of course didn't fight back and let her towel him off before carrying him back into his room. The child pointed at the dragon on the wall. Miyako was watching and a smile spread across his face. "He certainly likes his zampaktuo, doesn't he."

"I'm glad he does." Unohana carefully tucked the child in the bed. A hell butterfly suddenly flew in through the window and landed on her finger. "The head captain is coming over."

"Is it such a good idea?"

Isane blinked a couple of times."I have to agree with Miyako on this one."

"If it weren't for the fact I need him to see that picture that the child painted on the wall I would normally say yes. If it had been on a piece of paper I would take it to the head captain.

Miyako let out a deep sigh. "Is there something special about that zampaktuo spirit? I mean, to get the head captain involved."

"I can't go into details. I simply wish for him to confirm my suspicions, or even refute them." The woman sat in the other chair and watched as the boy sat up and begin looking around the room. "No more paint for you." The boy looked at her a couple of times. "Or are you just looking for something to do?"

The woman stood up and headed to her office to get the colored blocks and brought them back and the child's small hands went to work playing with the items, moving them around. The child stopped short upon noticing a sudden change in the reiatsu and looked towards the door as if he was expecting something. Isane blinked a couple of times. "Did he just sense the head captain?"

It was then that the old man came into the room with his arms behind his back. The boy simply looked at him, his eyes wide without reacting. However, when the old man's fukutaicho moved into view the child reacted, letting out a sound of fear causing the old man to nod his head for his fukutaicho to leave. He headed over to the bed, watching as Miyako worked on calming the child down, holding the boy to her chest. "What is it that you wished for me to see?"

"If you look towards the wall you can see a picture that the boy painted on the wall."

The old man looked up, one of his eyes taking in the creature before snapping them shut. "So... you like dragons boy?"

"Dragons?" Miyako looked at the picture. "You know... now that I think of it, it does look like a dragon."

Toshiro on the other hand watched the old man carefully before wiggling from Miyako's grip and crawling closer to the head captain across the top of the bed. Two small hands reached up and tugged on the long beard, suddenly fascinated by the old man's beard. A rough hand reached out and ruffled the boy's hair.

Another hand reached in and brought out a piece of wrapped candy. He carefully unwrapped the candy and then put it into the child's mouth. Isane blinked a couple of times. "I'm not sure if that is a good idea. He might swallow it whole."

However, the boy began to play with the item in his mouth with his tongue, pushing it around in his mouth. He then opened his mouth to show the head captain the candy and then snapped his mouth shut and smiled. The man turned to Unohana. "You said that the child had problems around males."

"It may have something to do with your age head captain."

"If that is the case you may want to try and introduce to the boy to that young protegee of yours."

"Hanataro?" Isane blinked a couple of times. "I'm quite sure Hanataro would like to make friends with him. There aren't many Shinigami his age."

The head captain turned to look at the wall. "It's been a long time since I've seen that particular dragon depicted. I hope though that Isane and Miyako take nothing from me saying this. It's just this old man being nostalgic"


	25. Fiery Pain

The fukutaicho of the thirteenth division moved with the few men who were with him through the fields. Kaien raised his hand to motion the men to stop moving and they ducked to their knees waiting for the time to move. The sound of the hollow moving made Kaien wave his hand for them to wait while he moved to take out the Hollow.

Finishing the task he turned to his men. "It's time to head back as that should be the last Hollow reported in the area." He began to walk back with them only to find one of them asking if he would come and drink with them. "No... Miyako's should be back taking a break from what she's doing in the forth division."

He waved goodbye and first headed to shower and change his uniform before heading back to check on Ukitake. The man was sitting on the cushions and looked up. "It's so good to see that you've been in a good mood since you found the boy Kaien."

"I really hadn't noticed. I will be taking me leave now sir and preparing dinner for Miyako when she gets back." Despite being exhausted he went to he division kitchens and began to cook the meal to carry back to their room, humming as he did so. He set the food down and then collapsed onto the futon. The door slid open and he looked up at her. "You look tired."

"He's making progress." The woman sat down.

"You aren't going to eat." The reply he got was Miyako moving next to him.

"Not just yet." The woman closed her eyes. "That child..." Kaien let out a sigh of frustration and went to eat his own food. "... that child's been talking to his zampaktuo.'

The fukutaicho of the thirteenth choked on the food. "Wait... I thought that he couldn't talk. What..."

"I wouldn't say he can't talk. He's just not choosing to use words. He used some blocks to show us his zampaktuo spirit yesterday, but we couldn't tell what it was. Today Unohana gave him finger paints."

Kaien's interest became perked and he leaned back against her shoulder. "Could I see his painting? Actually, why didn't you bring it for me to see?" There came a sudden laugh and he frowned. "What is so funny."

"Momo came to watch him today so I took a lunch break with Isane. She decided to get some towels and water to clean his hands and when she got back there was his zampaktuo spirit on the wall."

The young man sighed. "In other words I would have to go into the room to see it. What is his zampaktuo spirit? Or is it like Ganju's pictures of Bonnie. Actually... anything would be better then the..."

"Oh come on. Your little brother and his friend Daiji say that word all the time."

"Yeah... no." Kaien's mouth twisted up into a frown. "I see you can't say it either. Well... I can say it, but with how it's currently Ganju's current catch phrase... no. Bad thoughts come into mind."

"Actually, he's a very talented child. The dragon he painted on the wall was beautiful."

"He has a zampaktuo this early though? I mean, the only one that I know that..." The young man paused, setting his food aside while Miyako picked up hers. " _Ichimaru Gin_ " Kaien shook his head, causing Miyako to turn her head towards him. " _Silver colored hair, teal colored eyes, child geniuses that are far younger then any others._ "

"Kaien..."

"Do you remember a few weeks ago roughly how you asked me if I was keeping something from you."

"You told me that you would eventually tell me."

"I kind of brushed it aside because I thought it was just a coincidence, but I really shouldn't have pushed it aside. I think it was Gin-kun who left the child at our door."

"Gin-chan?" Miyako turned around. "Kaien... Gin-chan... where did you get that idea from."

"They have the same coloring, they are both geniuses and both began contacting their zampaktuo at an abnormally young age."

"Yes... but that isn't enough."

"I told you that day that Gin was in a bad mood. I took the candy from him. The amanatto I had you put with the stuffed animal. He was likely going to put it on the sill while we weren't noticing."

"But how do you know what that was for."

"I was talking to Momo-chan and she told me that the child's favorite food is amanatto."

"So?"

"His least favorite is dried persimmons."

"Uh... and this proves what."

"He knew that Momo had an infatuation with Aizen."

"She doesn't seem to have an infatuation with Aizen to me." The woman looked away then. "Let's say though that you're right about Gin and the boy. What connection do they have? Why wouldn't Gin approach us. I would have thought that he would have been able to approach us about these kinds of things."

Kaien remained silent. "The reason I pushed it aside is because of the implications it has."

"Oh come on? What implications?"

"I believe that child is his son." There came a pause of silence. "The mother would have been Matsumoto Rangiku, nii-sama's former taicho." Miyako didn't speak up like he thought she would. "I'm guessing that they gave up the baby because they were young and couldn't take care of it. He could have possibly have come forward now, but Rangiku's dead."

"I see."

"Of course. As you said this is rather far fetched, the idea that Gin and Ran had a child. I mean... little Gin and little Ran? Can we forget that we talked about this even? I mean... it is really hard to believe that is true."

"The good you made is really good. How did work go today for you."

"It went all right."

"Oh... the head captain came to see Toshiro today."

"That must have been fun for you. I mean, that child doesn't like being around adult males."

Miyako let out a chuckle. "Actually... Toshiro loved the head captain's beard and thought the candy he was given was really good."

"That's not fair! How come the old man is able to have the child not react negatively to him."

"Because he's not an adult male, he's an old man male."

Kaien let out a sigh. "Still... Toshiro is making progress?"

"Yes. Thankfully he is."


	26. Twisted Pain

He was having fun. For the first time in a long time he was enjoying himself and he didn't have to think about the bad things that went on in his life. He had "zampaktuo" who was always there and never bothered him about what had happened. The "adults", no... "women" and "grandfather like figure" didn't ask him questions either. This honestly felt good.

On top of this he had a nice warm bed in which he could cocoon himself into and after that day that they let him paint the wall he had at least one bath everyday which was another kind of warm cocoon that felt nice and safe. He felt safe and as he felt safe he was able to think back to the good times a bit. The child lay on his back looking at the ceiling, boredom starting to wear away at him.

" _I like this place._ "

" _I know you like this place._ "

" _I don't ever want to leave._ " There came no answer from his dragon this time but he didn't think anything of it. " _I like those blocks and I like those paints as they called them. I wish I had something other then just blocks and baths._ "

" _Ask._ "

" _Ask for what?_ "

" _A nice warm bath._ "

" _How?_ "

" _I don't know._ "

" _Your no help._ "

" _Well... would you like me to push you to speak?_ "

" _No..._ "

" _Maybe 'grandfather like figure' will come and visit again._ "

" _That would be nice. He knew what you were too. Why?_ " Silence came again and the boy rolled over onto his stomach. " _I like Miyako lady. She keeps me safe from..._ " The boy stopped short, his stomach suddenly lurching. " _I don't feel so good._ "

" _You have another fever. Don't worry. I will regulate your temperature._ "

" _You know I don't understand what that means._ " The child let a deep breath. " _Pain..._ " A flash suddenly came across his memory. There came no contorting but his hands did in fact cover his ears. This didn't though stop the memory of the beating flashing through his head clearer and clearer. " _Make it go away! Make it go away! Just... please! Make that memory go away._ "

" _I can't. I wish I could._ "

"Toshiro?" Miyako hurried over and scooped him up into her arms. "Please... sweetheart, calm down. You were doing so well." She began to sing but her words didn't calm her down. She rocked him back and forth.

" _To-chan... come and save me. Make it stop._ "

" _He's..._ " The dragon stopped short almost as if it didn't want to say something but had started off saying it.

The child didn't know how long he was crying, but he kept at it no matter how much Miyako tried giving him things that would normally calm him. It was then that he heard the person who had been in the room with Miyako when he came too. "I heard he was reacting badly and brought this."

" _Nobody cares. Eventually they'll leave like granny, Momo-nee, To-chan... all of them._ "

"Kaien... you said to hold that off." Toshiro could feel the woman shake her head.

"I said to hold it off until we knew that we needed it. We needed it." The man walked over and he handed something to Miyako.

"Look Toshiro! It's a stuffed bear. It's a nice, soft toy." There came no response from the boy when Miyako said this.

The man then spoke. "It's something your oto-san left you."

A hiccup came from Toshiro's mouth. " _To-chan..._ "

Miyako paused. "Yes... do you remember your oto-san."

The boy's hands reached out. " _To-chan._ " The ohh sound came out of his mouth and he found himself clutching the bear to him. " _It smells like To-chan._ "

"What set that off Miyako?"

"I don't know." The woman touched his forehead. "Honestly, I don't know if he has a fever because he was crying like he was or because he's sick. I'll give him something so that he'll fall asleep."

The boy choked out a sob but eventually fell into dreams. He watched as the men came towards him and he held up his arm to block the blows, but the never came. He opened his eyes to see someone standing in front of him with silver hair. He couldn't see the persons face, but he saw that the person was between him and the men. He opened his mouth to call out, but found himself suddenly snapping awake.

"Shiro-chan!"

He opened his eyes in what felt like an all to familiar memory and saw Momo leaning over him. " _Momo-nee..._ "

"You had such a terrible fever! You wouldn't stop crying."

" _Can I sleep some more._ "

"Momo, the boy needs his rest."

" _Go ahead and sleep little one._ "

But Toshiro found himself unable to wake up. Taking a deep breath he found himself looking to the said. Kaien was sitting in a chair and he flinched. Instead of screaming he took his bear and moved over the edge of the bed. Miyako called out after him. "Toshiro... no... you have to remain in bed."

Instead of listening he crawled under the bed. The woman let out a sigh. "He saw you Kaien."

Toshio watched as the man came over and the bed then go down. The next thing he knew the man was staring at him. Instead of panicking he just looked at the man and stuck his thumb in his mouth. "Well... it is better then nothing."

Kaien then sat up. "He's going to be stuck on broth again?"

"No. He's going to be fine. You are such a worry wart you know."

"If you leave, he might come out from under the bed."

"Hai, hai." The man then got up, but Toshiro choose not to come out from under the bed and instead dozed off due to the stuffy warmth. When he woke up he found himself in the bed and he pulled the toy closer and watched as Miyako slept in the chair near him. He closed his eyes. " _Where is To-chan?_ "


	27. Twisted Reality

Gin looked out the window of the fifth division wishing that he could get started at the third division sooner rather then later. Letting out a deep breath he continued to watch a butterfly flit across the window. Aizen seem to have noticed his boredom and decided to speak up. "Why don't you go and bother the child that is holed up in the forth division?"

"Ehh?" The young man turned his head to look at the man.

"Haven't you heard? There was a child brought in. People have said that the child painted on the forth division wall."

The silver haired man frowned. "But Unohana won't let me play with the kiddo like that. I'm surprised that he was able to paint the wall." He turned his head back to watch the butterflies. " _Why would Unohana let Shiro-chan pain on the wall?_ "

"Apparently he was left unsupervised for a period of time."

" _Better question is why would Shiro-chan go and do something like that? He's a very polite child and wouldn't go wrecking people's stuff._ "

"I'm surprised that you aren't taking a greater interest in this Gin-kun."

Gin found himself turning his head, frowning at the man. "Why should I?"

"Apparently what the child painted was his zampaktuo spirit."

The man found his eyes widen suddenly. " _Shiro-chan, you idiot._ " He snapped his eyes shut and let the fake grin spread across his face. "What, is there another child genius?"

"Seems so... but..."

"Don't wanna have competition."

"Typical. As I was saying, the child isn't speaking. Chances are the thing that he drew on the wall is just some imaginary friend. He's honestly not worth my time either way."

"Either way?"

"I don't have to worry about whether I could use him to my advantage or him figuring out. His mind is addled."

"Oh... but isn't my mind addled as well. People are always saying that."

"Your mind is addled in a way that I can use you."

"I see." Gin turned back to the window. " _I'm glad though that he has no interest in Shiro-chan. But him painting Maru-chan onto the wall?_ "

" _Don't you want to see Shiro-chan again? I want to see Maru-chan again._ "

" _Shut up._ "

" _I want to see Shiro-chan's picture of dear Maru-chan. I bet it's cute. Like Shiro-chan._ "

" _Shut up Shinso._ "

**M**

Aizen took no interest in the child and instead focused his attention on the three academy students who were supposed to be graduating that year. He went and nontenured for the chance to help the students decide what division they would be best in while Isshin tagged along beside him. "Why exactly is the head of the Shiba clan choosing to go and help with this. Not to offend here, but normally you're goofing off like Gin-kun is."

"How much longer are you going to be calling Gin-chan that?"

"Ah... yes. His promotion to captain rank is soon." Aizen continued walking along.

"Well... there are a few kids my brother met that I haven't had the chance to meet yet."

"That your brother met?"

"Yeah... the girl is the older sister of the little boy that Miyako is caring for in the forth division."

"Ah... the supposed child genius."

"Child genius?" Isshin held a hand behind his head. "Kaien's told me that the child is smarter then Ganju. You've met my brother though so you know that isn't really saying much. Ganju's pictures of Bonnie, our family's pet boar look like poop."

"I am going to remind you here that not only are you the head of your clan but you're also a taicho."

"Oh... yeah!"

"And I'm going to remind you that you need to behave in front of the academy students."

"And what might I go and do that would be so bad."

"I am thinking you'll hit on the female students."

"Now where would you get that idea from?"

"From the fact you hit on anything that isn't the same sex as you just like Kyoraku Taicho."

"Why, thank you!"

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I know it wasn't."

Aizen let out a sigh and was glad when they finally arrived at the school. Isshin of course sat in his given chair with a great deal of exuberance. He then crossed his arms behind his head and gave a big grin. Aizen of course remained still while some members from the other division came in. Isshin suddenly stood up upon seeing Nanao.

"Hey! Juushi-chan! Good morning too you!" The man then grinned at the man. "See... I don't flirt with everyone!'

"Shiba Taicho." Aizen pushed up his glasses. "Need I remind you that there are four people between you and me and you just blurted out the fact you have a problem flirting with the females in front of the entire student body of this graduating year?"

"Oh..."

Nanao let out a sigh. "I'm also going to add the fact it is afternoon which means you were drinking this morning just like my taicho."

"No! This morning I was taking a nap!"

"You mean that you were sleeping in."

"That too... then I took a nap right afterwords."

Giggling could be heard from some of the females and Aizen let out another sigh. "Behave yourself."

"Yes sir."

The students began to file through the line. The three he was interested in stopped at each of the tables which surprised him as he knew they were inclined towards the fifth division. He said hello to them and discussed their division and they moved along. Momo then paused in front of Isshin. "Ahh! Kaien-dono."

Aizen turned his head to look at Isshin in time to see Isshin stand up. "No! It's oji-chan Isshin!"

The man flinched when he saw the man glop the little girl while her three male companions looked at the man in shock. Yes... the group of friends had grown from just three too four. Aizen simply went back to keeping his mask up. Afterwords he walked with Isshin towards the tenth division. "So... that little girl is the older sister of the child?"

"Hmm... Momo -chan? Yeah. Kaien and Miyako are thinking about adopting both."

Aizen bid the man farewell and headed to the forth, hiding his presence. He looked into the room. He barely got to glimpse what the child had painted as the child caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye and began getting upset.. He headed back towards the fifth and Gin stuck his head up. "Something wrong?"

"Apparently something occurred so I may not be able to use those three the way I wanted too."

"Oh?"

"Well... they aren't anywhere near as useful as a child prodigy I've been grooming for fifty plus years."

"I _love_ the fact I'm im...por...tant!"

"Yes... you would."


	28. Self Reality

"Keep in mind that there will be representatives from each of the divisions to speak with those of you in the senior class about choosing which division you should go into tomorrow. It is highly suggest that you participate."

Momo grabbed her bag and walked to the door. Izuru folded his arms across his chest. "We decided a long time ago that we were going to go into the fifth division so we could spend our time tomorrow training instead."

The small female frowned then. "I don't know. I actually think that I want to look into some of the other divisions."

The blond haired academy student blinked a couple of times. "I thought that we were planning on going into the same division so we could stick together."

"Yes... but... I really need to think about what is best for Shiro-chan. I've met the taicho of the forth division and she is very nice and the fukutaicho of the thirteenth division as well as the third seat are nice as well. You also heard Kaien-dono say that Ichimaru Fukutaicho is going to be becoming a taicho soon."

Renji folded his arms. "I'm actually kind of interested in the eleventh division. I mean, fighting is my strong point."

"It's not mine or Momo's though." Izuru shook his head. "And I thought we discussed this already, how we couldn't go into the eleventh with you."

"Yes... well..." Renji frowned.

"I think people should know as much as they can about all of the divisions before making their choice." The three turned to look at the young man with the purple hair. "Each division has it's positive or negative sides."

"But what would fifth division's negative sides be?" Momo turned her head towards the boy while Izuru in turn looked away.

"I don't know. He just doesn't stand out in comparison to the other taicho." Sojiro folded his arms across his chest.

"But he was so amazing when he rescued us in the living world."

"Ah... that was with class one during our first year. I ended up being moved up to the class our second year."

"I know that." Izuru folded his arms. Sojiro looked at him as if he wished to say something but instead held back.

Renji folded his arms. "So... you think we should take the time with interviews? It can take all day you know."

"We just need to be here earlier rather then later so that we can get an earlier spot in the line."

Momo took a deep breath. "I really want to do this. I have to think as I said about what is best for Shiro-chan and not what is best for me."

**M**

The next morning Momo stood in line bouncing back and forth on her feet. "This is like waiting for Aizen's calligraphy class."

"It's the only class you're know to always be on time. "Renji folded his arms behind his back. "I had no interest in the extra curricular activities except for the extra training sessions."

"You probably should have attended tutorial periods on your kido." Izuru glared at Sojiro's back.

The young man turned back to look at them. "The divisions are in order from first to last but you should likely member every detail from each."

"Like?" Renji's arms remained folded and he had a rather bored look on his face. "No... seriously..."

"Well... you know that the eleventh division taicho..."

"Has the title of strongest shinigami and is thus called Kenpachi."

"Not that hard." This comment caused Renji to sigh and Izuru to role his eyes.

They finally got up to the first division where the fukutaicho for some reason talked to them about what he called western teas. The second division had someone talking to them about the stealth force and the third for some reason had no representative. "That's because there is no captain of the third division. Well... you said that you think Ichimaru Gin is going to become captain of the third. As they don't have captain yet or a fukutaicho for that matter they don't have anyone to represent them."

Momo stopped at the forth division to see that Isane was there with a rather young looking Shinigami. "Hello! I'm Yamada Hanataro. It's nice to meet you."

Renji frowned. "You're kind of young, aren't you."

"I specialize in healing, not to mention the fact my older brother used to be Unohana's fukutaicho before Isane-san so I ended up growing up around the forth division. I'm not really good at anything else really."

Izuru frowned. "You mean you never went to the academy.'

"Well... I've been to some lectures but because I grew up in the forth division and around Unohana Taicho I didn't have to graduate to join."

Momo blinked a couple of times. "So it is possible for someone to grow up around the forth division?"

"There are quite a few Shinigami that grew up around the division quarters rather then graduating. Well, Ise Fukutaicho did eventually graduate from the academy like I eventually plan on doing, but she started off as a division member as she was taken in by her division. She can actually tell you more. I mostly know about healing stuff and haven't gotten to know the few Shinigami who are around my age."

They moved on and they spoke to the captain of the fifth division and Momo found herself excited but also quickly disappointed. They moved on to the sixth which had the current fukutaicho talk about how a career with the Shinigami might not be permanent as a few went to make their own businesses with the money they earned while a few happened to have a penchant for going straight into other supporting roles. There was nothing rememberable about the seventh.

"Hello... I'm Ise Nanao, fukutaicho of the eighth division."

Momo blinked a couple of times. "Ah... you're the one that Hanataro talked about!"

"What?" The woman blinked a couple of times.

"He told me that there are a few Shinigami that were raised around the division who actually graduated later on from the academy after becoming Shinigami. He said you like him were raised around one of the divisions."

The female frowned. "Why would this topic interest you?"

"Well..." Momo stopped short.

Sojiro spoke then before Izuru could. "Her little brother is currently being cared for in the forth division. This year her grandmother died and she's wanting know how that works out."

The woman frowned but then sighed. "I don't mind talking to you about that, but can we please talk about this later? If you wait until after we're done I'll answer your questions on that."

"Thank you."

They stopped at the ninth division and Renji pointed his finger. "Ah! I know you!"

The young man blinked a couple of times. "Oh! It's you three. It's nice to see you guys again and I hope to see more of you guys even if you don't join my division. Actually, feel free to stop by any time. Our division is actually in charge of the Seiretei Communication. It's a magazine that all of the divisions work on." The young man handed them a small flier then. "As per usual this is the flier those who work on the Seiretei Communication put together detailing what every division does."

"Thank you!" Momo smiled at him. "You're like an older brother or something like that!"

"Uh... ok."

She then moved on to the next division where a taicho was sitting, tapping his foot as he talked to the person. A few of course skipped from the front to going straight to his part at the table when their was a blank spot. Momo blinked a couple of times and then pointed at him. "Ah... Kaien-dono."

Sojiro and Izuru held back their laughter while Renji's eye's widened and his jaw dropped.

The man suddenly got excited and stood up. "No! It's oji-chan Isshin!"

To Momo's utter surprise the man scooped her up into his arms and hugged her before setting her down and patting her on the head. Renji's shock increased while the other two simply looked with their mouths open. "Kaien and Miyako told me about your little brother. How is he doing? Since I'm a taicho I don't get to talk to my twin brother very often."

"Unless of course we're doing the twin photo shoot." Shuhei let out a laugh. "It's the best selling set."

Isshin stared at him rather dumb founed. "Actually... I don't get why that is. Kaien's married and yet you tell me a bunch of girls always buy it."

"You're single though." Izuru blurted out.

"Oh yeah. I always forget about that. I've never had a steady girlfriend. Hey, did you know that Kaien met Miyako by walking in on her naked during a physical?"

"Umm..." Momo smiled in an awkward fashion. "My little brother is actually doing well. I'm not quite understanding the whole thing about why you want me to call you uncle."

"That's because... oh..." Isshin paused. "I think I goofed."

The small female looked towards Shuhei who shrugged his shoulders. "Haven't a clue what he goofed on. He's been worse then usual since his fukutaicho died."

The man sat down and sniffled. "Poor Ran-chan."

They moved onto the eleventh division while Isshin blubbered to the next person in line about how poor Ran-chan had died. Renji talked for some time with the two who were sitting there drinking sake, the third and fifth seats. The twelfth division captain blurted out the invitation to be an experiment and the moved onto the next. Sojiro opened his mouth. "I think there is a reason your line is short sir."

"What?"

They then came to the last one which was the thirteenth division. The two that met them there began to shake their hands in earnest and appologized for the taicho, fukutaicho and third seat not being there as the captain was ill, the fukutaicho was away on a mission and the third was helping in the forth division with something. They then moved away, the experience rather interesting.


	29. Self Awareness

The four academy students sat to the side waiting for Ise Nanao to finish with the other students. She stopped short realizing that all four of them were waiting instead of just Momo. Letting out a sigh she stood near them. "First, I wish to apologize for Shiba Taicho's behavior. He really hasn't been the same since his fukutaicho died. And to be honest it's hit a few other members of the Gotei Thirteen hard."

Izuru frowned. "You wouldn't happen to know what his telling Momo to call him uncle is about."

"No..." The woman pushed up her glasses. "Your little brother wouldn't happen to be the child that is being cared for in the forth division.

"Yes. That's Shiro-chan."

Nanao folded her arms. "Walk with me to the forth without your friends?" The three males frowned. "Don't worry, she'll be fine."

"She's right, I'll be fine." The two began to walk to the forth division.

Nanao folded her arms. "I'm going to be frank with you about something. The children who are raised around the division are children who the higher ranking division members decided to find and take in. Lower ranking Shinigami don't bring their family around the division. It's just too dangerous for a child. You four should know full well what our job as Shinigami is."

"I don't understand. "I can't bring Toshiro to whatever division I go too?"

"I'm saying there is no procedure for lower ranking Shinigami to brink their family in. Mind you... the situation you're in is also not like any that I know of occurring in the records before."

"Huh..."

Nanao held a finger up, her one arm still crossed across her chest. "Let me ask you something. What reason would a higher officer take interest in a child that would make them stay at the division."

"They're family. That's how family works."

"Nope." The fukutaicho continued. "It makes more sense to keep their family away from the divisions and the business we participate in. Many shinigami have homes away from the barracks."

"What if though both parents happen to be shinigami?" Momo frowned. "Surely they have someone to take care of them."

"That's only if there are other family members or the family is of one of the noble clans. The female takes a leave until the eldest child can take care of themselves or the older child. It's rather sexist, but..." Nanao's mouth clamped shut. "Look, try a different guess."

"They're children who show signs of having high levels of reiatsu." The small female looked at the ground. "They're kept around the division because they would otherwise be outcast."

"Yes." The woman pushed up her glasses. "These children have nowhere else to go. Under normal circumstances... under normal circumstances a child from the Rukongai would simply be adopted into another family. As such though your brother's reiatsu is abnormally high. He..."

There came a pause from the woman and Nanao frowned. Momo noticed the frown. "Don't worry about hurting my feelings. I already know that nobody in the Rukon want anything to do with him. My entire village is terrified of him. The village elder told me that I should find someone who was willing to adopt him."

"So you're fully aware already that the two of you are likely to be separated." Nanao and she arrived at the forth division. "Why are you trying to stay together? I can tell from your reiatsu that you don't stand the chance of being a seated officer. What are your grades like? What are your strengths? What makes you desirable to the divisions?"

"I'm in the advanced class."

"That may be, but that means nothing when you're a female. You have to have something that sells you." The two arrived at the room Toshiro was in to see that the child shaking in the bed. The woman paused. "Miyako... what is wrong with the child?"

Momo hurried over to the boy. "Shiro-chan!"

"He's asleep. He has a horrible fever." Miyako watched as Momo walked over to the chair. "Is something the matter sweetheart."

"She wanted to know how to stay with her brother. I explained to her the fact that is highly unlikely."

The girl took a deep breath. "I was thinking maybe I could take care of Shiro-chan, but honestly I don't have any skills. My kido is nothing compared to some of the other students. There is a chance that Toshiro could be taken in by a high seated officer, but he's struggling right now so I don't know who would want him. Which makes me think finding someone to adopt him would be hard. And... the honest truth is he needs to be watched constantly which means if I were to drop out I would still have to get a job to care for him.

The third seat of the thirteenth division took a deep breath. "Nanao... could you have had a little more tact with the situation."

"What? We live in a very sexist world." The woman pushed up her glasses. "By the way... your brother-in-law was acting strangely and told this young lady to call him uncle."

"Oh dear. He must have assumed we had already discussed that with Momo-chan but we wanted to wait until the boy was better." There came a period of silence. "Kaien and I have been trying to have children for some time now, but we have not been able to."

Momo looked up, her eyes watery. "You and Kaien-dono want to adopt Shiro-chan? That means he will be taken care of."

"Sweet heart, we want to adopt you as well." Miyako watched as the girl suddenly burst into tears, only to have the crying stop as the child in the bed began to wake up and cry.

"What is wrong with Shiro-chan?"

"He has a very bad fever and won't stop crying. Will you help me take care of him for a bit? Because he isn't speaking we can't tell where the problem is."

Nanao turned her head to look at the wall. "Wait... is that the rumored mural?"

"Mmm... yes."

"This child..." The woman tilted her head. "You do know that there will be others contending for this child, right?"

Momo frowned. "I don't understand."

Miyako lifted the boy up into her arms. "Surely the taicho won't have a fight over this and will let him be."

"I was thinking some of the noble clans." Nanao frowned. "Having a child at this age who is already at third seat is coveted. You of all people should know that with your husband and his brother being as highly esteemed as they are for being child geniuses."

Momo blinked a couple of times. "Kaien-dono and... umm... that really strange man... they're also child geniuses?"

"Don't worry about that right now. Why don't you goo with Nanao to get me some fresh towels and a fresh bowl of water.


	30. Cruel Awareness

Word came to Kaien that the boy wasn't feeling well through a Hell Butterfly sent by Unohana. He carefully went to his and Miyako's room and picked up the teddy bear they had been holding back. He carefully tucked it in his arms and hurried over to the forth division, a frown spread across his face. The fukutaicho of the thirteenth division slipped into the room and held out the bear to his wife.

Miyako looked at him in surprise. "Kaien... you said to hold that off."

"I said to hold it off until we knew we needed it. We needed it." The man added in something then. "Unohana said for once you're not having any luck calming him down and even Momo is getting worried. She was actually here a little while ago with Nanao."

"I..." The woman held out the toy. "Look Toshiro! It's a stuffed bear. It's a nice, soft toy."

Kaien swallowed and then said something he would have rather not say. "It's something your oto-san left you."

The child's eyes stopped clamping shut and opened to look at the toy. A hiccup escaped and Miyako handed it to him. The woman blinked a couple of times. "Yes... do you remember your oto-san."

"That's honestly a good question Miyako. Do you know what set that off Miyako? Is crying I mean?"

"I don't know." The woman paused, touching his forehead. Without her saying anything he knew the child wasn't well and yet she said it anyways.

"I have some time off... I'll stay with you two." Kaien sat in the other chair and looked at the ceiling, waiting paitently for Miyako's order. Finally after a day she let out a sigh of relief. "It broke. Would you send a Hell Butterfly to Momo-chan. I promised her that I would send for her. Also... I told her that we were thinking of adopting her and Toshiro."

"What..." Kaien shook his head. "What if she has other plans for the two of them? You said not to get our hopes up."

"She's looking for a way to stay together with him and to be honest it really is their only option. You yourself noted that her grades aren't as good as they would need to be for that to happen."

"No... she wouldn't get a seated position. Still... we wanted to wait until he was better and could understand what was going on."

"You're brother told her."

"What..." Kaien paused in the doorway and turned towards her, frowning as he did so.

"Apparently he accosted her at the introduction held at the school and told her to call him uncle."

"Good grief. He... I am leery of introducing her to the rest of our family now." The man slipped out of the room and waited at the entrance for the girl to arrive. "I apologize for nii-sama's behavior the other day. Miyako just told me as she's been so busy fussing over Toshiro-kun." He then spun on his heals so that he could walk with her. "I also heard that she told you we planned on adopting you and Toshiro. How do you feel about it?"

"We've been busy with classes and I haven't had a chance to talk about this with my friends yet. I kind of worry that Renji will encourage me to get adopted because being adopted by one of the five noble clans means that I will be taken care of and be well off. On the other hand he'll also stop talking to me once that happens like he did with Rukia.'

"Kuchiki's little sister?" Kaien thought for a few minutes as he walked. "Well... the Kuchiki clan has always been one of the stricter clans. Keep in mind that our clan doesn't mind intermingling with the commoner folk like the others do and if you have to remind him of that.'

"So you've met Rukia?" Momo looked up. "I don't understand why Renji is so occupied with her. I mean... I understand the fact you want to be around your childhood friends for ever and..." The girl paused, stopping short. "I said I would never go back to the village because of what they did but aren't I doing what Renji is doing to Rukia?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Rukia's status changes so they stopped communicating with each other. On the other hand my status changed and I haven't in the past month tried to speak with them. I ignored them during the funeral. I didn't even try to ask for their side of things."

"And what if your child hood friends had a hand in what happened to Toshiro?" Kaien frowned as they continued to walk.

"If they had..." Momo looked at the ground. "Maybe that's why I don't want to speak with them. They may very well have had a hand in what was going on. But..."

"Give yourself time to think about that. If need be the Shiba clan can send people to find information out about your friends and arrange for you to speak with them away from the village. Just make sure you're ready for this."

Silence followed them and then Momo spoke again. "If I do decide that we'll let you adopt us... I don't think I could call you father or Miyako-san mother. It feels kind of weird so to speak."

"We'll wait. We've already been waiting for a long time. To be honest, just having you let us adopt you two would be enough."

They arrived at the door and Momo blinked a couple of times. "Where did the teddy bear come from?"

"No where in particular." Miyako looked up, a smile on her face. "It does help to calm your brother down when he is upset though." Things proceeded to where Toshiro woke up and dived under the bed upon seeing Kaien, taking his bear with him. The man found himself leaving while the boy remained under the bed.

**M**

A soft rain dripped outside of the forth division as Kaien moved through the halls. His mind was made up, firm in his decision. He looked into the room where Toshiro had been moved and saw that the child was sulking on the bed, his knees pulled up to his chest. "I see he's not happy."

"Well... would you be happy if you got kicked out of your room?"

"You told him it was for cleaning purposes?"

"Yes... well... besides the painting mess we have not had a problem with him _making_ messes. He loves his bathes and lets us know when he has to go to the restroom. And why are you hiding? Actually... why did you ask me and Unohana to do this."

"I told you... I explained things to Unohana. Be patient." The man stood at the corner when he heard a rather loud voice.

"Kaien! You wanted to see me, right!"

A frown spread across Miyako's face and her arms crossed across her chest. " _What_ is your brother doing here?"

"Isshin?" Kaien blinked a couple of times. "Isshin is... well... he..."

"Kaien said he wanted me to help with something."

"Of course we want you to help. If you don't I will force you to do examinations on female patients Shiba Taicho."

Isshin's mouth twitched. "Unohana... you're behind me aren't you?" There came a short period of silence before the man spoke again. "You _know_ what happens when I do examinations of female patients."

"I will make it so you can not escape the room until you finish or you pass out from screaming. If you want to maintain your reputation as a pervert... albeit fake one... you will help us out."

"So... what do I need to do?" Isshin let out a sigh."

Kaien turned to his brother. "I need you to flex out your reiatsu and sit on the bed in here."

"That's it." Isshin shook his head and walked into the room. "That's easy. I mean..." It was then that the taicho of the tenth division watched something dart under the bed. "wait... what's the kid doing here?" The man then turned to glare at his brother. " _Why_ are you having me scare the kid?"

"There is something I want to confirm. Use your reiatsu to make sure that none of Toshiro's shows through. It's important that you do this." Kaien moved away from the room.

"Hey! Wait a second! I'm here waiting on the bed and scaring the kid and what are you doing?"

"I'm going and getting someone." Kaine shook his head at his brother.

Unohana moved to the window. "I'm just here to make sure that no one escapes.'

Miyako let out a sigh. "I guess my job is to make sure you don't bolt for the door. The only reason I'm going along with this is because Unohana thinks it is a good idea."

The fukutaicho of the thirteenth division slipped out of the room and headed to the fifth division, knocking on the door. "Ichimaru..."

The silver haired man looked up. "Kaien-dono-san!"

"Isshin needs your help with something."

A frown spread across the man's face and he then stood up, waving his hand at his taicho. "Bye-bye. I'm needed. See you later. Hopefully you'll smile for me." The man then walked next to Kaien as they headed to the forth division, a sudden frown spreading across the silver haired man's face. "Why are we headed to the forth division?"

"He's at the forth division." A lie came to mind about lying about Isshin needing help examining the female patients but knew he wouldn't buy it. "Unohana has him confined for bed rest and he's wanting some company. I of course am busy with my duties while Miyako is busy with the little boy that is in the forth division's care."

"Oh... I guess I can handle that." The silver haired man became cheerful again, only to freeze after stepping into the room and seeing Isshin sitting on the bed. Both men then had frowns on their faces. Gin opened his mouth to say something only to see a small hand suddenly appear from under the bed. "No..."

In the attempt to back up Gin found himself crashing into Kaien and heard the door slide shut. Miyako was sitting in the room with a rather surprised look on her face while Unohana stood looking out the window. It was then that another small hand appeared from under the bed, catching Miyako's attention as Gin's eyes were glued in that direction. The small hand clutched onto a toy bear. "Please..."

It was then that a head of hair popped out and a small boy looked up with a smile, his eyes suddenly sparkling. Gin turned to look at Kaien, a frown plastered onto his face. "Why? I can't..."

"You can't what?"

Gin turned his head towards the child and watched as the boy moved all the way out, a smile on his face. "I can't..."


	31. Cruel Life

A soft rain fell outside of the fifth division as Gin worked away at the paperwork. A knock came and he looked up to see Kaien standing there waiting for him. "Kaien-dono-san!"

"Isshin needs your help with something."

Gin forced a frown onto his face despite not actually being bothered by the fact Rangiku's taicho wanted his help. " _Better then spending my time with him._ " The boy stood up and waved at the man he didn't want to spend time with and gave him the smile that he would have given Kaien if he hadn't had the mask that he showed everyone. Kaien told him what was going on and he said that he could handle it.

This was until he arrived at the forth division and saw Isshin sitting there on the bed, his legs and arms crossed with a frown on his face. It was rather obvious there was no reason for him to be stuck in the forth division which was the first thing that clued him in to the fact something was going on. The next thing that clued him in was the small hand that appeared from below the bed that could only belong to one person.

" _Shiro-chan... what are they trying to do. Well... I know that they used Isshin's reiatsu to hide Shiro-chan's. I need to get out of here._ " Without realizing it he spoke up as soon as he realized that they were looking at them. "No..."

He backed up, only to find himself bumping into Kaien while the door slid shut. Isshin began to scratch his bottom while narrowing his eyes at the two. Another hand came out with the teddy bear he had bought a long time ago for the boy. "Why? I can't..."

Gin turned and looked Kaien right in the eye only to see the man standing there with his arms crossed. "You can't what?"

Gin turned his head and watched as Toshiro move from under the bed while everyone watched. Isshin noticed that the boy had moved from under the bed and had actually come out and one of his eyebrows raised up. The silver haired man looked at the boy, his eyes suddenly feeling with panic, his mouth opening again. "I can't..."

Isshin took a deep breath. "Am I missing something."

"O-chan."

"I'm not..." Gin stopped himself from finishing the sentence. " _There is no way I can say I'm not his father. All four of them are very intelligent._ "

"O-chan."

The silver haired man let out a deep sigh before moving forward a few steps and collapsing to his knees knowing exactly what Toshiro would do. The boy crawled over to his lap and climbed right in. A bony hand reached up to ruffle the boy's head of hair and his chin rested on the boy's head. " _Why did this have to happen of all things?_ "

"O-chan."

"I know..."

Isshin took a deep breath. "Wait... if you're the kids father... which I honestly have a hard time believing because you and Ran wouldn't... oh... well that explains that one question. I still hold that you and Ran would hide from us that the two of you had a child."

"That's because I was the one hiding it from all of you including her." Gin leaned his head farther, taking in the nice clean sent that was around the boy. " _It's been so long since I could just hold him._ "

" _You know this isn't going to last._ "

" _I know._ " The man took a deep breath.

Unohana continued to look out the window. "One of the reasons you and Rangiku would have possibly have given him up would have been because the two of you couldn't take care of him. You would have been after all very young parents who were struggling to care for yourselves."

"Yes..."

"But that can't be it. At least no the whole story. I know for a fact that Rangiku did in fact have a child. Others who know are Miyako and Isane. Yet we also know that she has no memory of having said child.." Silence came over the room.

Isshin frowned, continuing to cross his arms. "Why leave him at Kaien and Miyako's place like you did?" Gin's hand tightened slightly at the back of the boy's head. "I mean... why not just tell us the truth. And is the reason you're giving him up again because you don't think you can take care of him without Rangiku? She wouldn't be happy about that."

"It isn't that simple." Gin simply held the boy. "If it were as simple as that..." Toshiro suddenly snuggled in close and the man carefully wrapped his arms around the boy and held him close. " _I can't tell them the truth._ "

"Something the matter Gin?" Miyako looked up at the silver haired man. Silence of course was the response. "Gin... the reason for keeping this secret was because Rangiku didn't remember? Right. There is no reason to keep the fact you are his father and Rangiku his mother a secret any more, right?'

"No. The reason I was keeping him secret wasn't because Rangiku didn't remember?"

"You're not the type to be ashamed of something like this." Isshin scratched his head. "So why?" There came another silence.

Unohana spoke then. "How far would you go to protect the future of Soul Society as the future of your child lies with the future of Soul Society?"

The queston from the older Shinigami surprised the younger Shinigami but Gin spoke then. "I would become a traitor to Soul Society to protect Soul Society."

"Then for all purposes you are if anyone eventually asks acting under my orders."

The child wiggled slightly in Gin's arms and looked up at the man, a frown on the boy's face. "O-chan..."

Gin closed his eyes. "You can't call me Shiro-chan."

"O..."

"No." He carefully turned the boy he was sitting in his lap. "I want you to call Miyako ka-chan. Unohana's granny, Isshin is oji-san and Kaien is your new o-chan."

The boy frowned and opened his mouth only to have a finger placed over his mouth. "I'm not going to be able to see you for a long time."

Miyako patted her lap. "Toshiro... why don't you come and sit in my lap. Kaien... why don't you go and show Gin-kun the painting in the other room. They should be finished cleaning the room."

The boy at first didn't move but a please from Gin caused the child to move over to the woman's lap and he crawled up and began to snuggle with her, his teddy bear clutched to his chest.

Gin stood up, his body feeling heavy. As Miyako guessed the room was in fact empty of anyone else. He sat down on the bed with its fresh sheets. Kaien sat next to him. "I figured you would want to see this."

"I've already seen him."

"How's that even possible?"

"His name is Hyorinmaru but Shiro-chan's always called him Maru-chan or Maru-Maru." The man looked up at the ceiling. "Shinso also says he's grown since we last saw him. They both have really."

"You're saying you went into his inner world though? Seriously..."

"Even I didn't start talking to my zampaktuo at that young of an age. I instructed Maru-chan to hold his powers back for as long as possible. I should have known though that this would eventually happen. I mean... him ending up interacting with the Shinigami. I can trust you and Miyako to take care of him."

"Kiddo... you and Ran-chan are family. This is as far as I push to find out what is going on." There came another sudden pause. "Just promise you won't die too."

"Ran's not dead. I can't explain how I know that though." It was then that the silver haired man got up and left the room.


	32. Crazy Life

Momo's mind felt numb as she tried to process everything that was going on. Her mind was broken away from her thought when Renji let out an irritated sound. "Look... Momo, we've been trying to ask you which division you're going to try for."

The female looked at the food she had been picking at, her mind still coming back into focus. She had come to see Toshiro the other day with the fukutaicho of the eighth division and she had come to find out that the third seat and fukutaicho of the thirteenth division had been planning on adopting her. She then became worried about the small child's fever and managed to block things out.

Just yesterday she had spoken with Kaien about the matter and it still hadn't sunk in that they had honestly proposed such a thing. Picking at her rice the small female academy student listened to the rain tap on the roof of the building they were in. "I honestly don't know. I mean... I was trying to figure that out when I was speaking with Ise Fukutaicho but we never really got to talk about that."

Izuru let out a sigh. "Momo... I thought that you wanted to try and find a division that would take both you and your brother."

The small female stabbed her chopsticks into her rice. "I haven't been thinking about that because I've been thinking about something else. So... what divisions have you guys figured on?'

"Eleventh..." Renji leaned on his arm. "Or what ever one you guys are trying out. This is why you figuring out which one you wish to try for is so important."

"I'm thinking of tenth." Sojiro paused in his eating.

Renji waved his hand. "Wait... the taicho of that division is crazy.

Izuru let out a sigh. "Other divisions have made more of an impression on me. For example, the first division happens to be sophisticated and hold with tradition. The forth division is where the healers go. The fifth division is where Aizen is. The ninth is where our sempai is. The thirteenth is where two of the Shiba."

"He doesn't seem like that bad of a person."

"He told Momo to call him Uncle!" Renji shook his head. "He's likely some kind of freaky pervert who wants to knock her up."

"Actually..." Momo stopped short, her eyes darting to her food. The three males looked up at her, blinking a couple of times. "... Kaien-dono and his wife have put forth the offer to adopt both Shiro-chan and I."

The red haired student's face twisted up with hurt. "What?"

"That's what I've been considering. Truth of the matter is it is likely the only way I would be able to stay with Shiro-chan."

"Then do it. Why don't you just do it?" Renji shook his head and crossed his arms.

"Because I knew you would say that! I knew..." Momo felt a few tears come and clamped her eyes shut. "I knew you would say that. I also know that you would give me that hurt look and I know you won't try to speak to my or Shiro-chan again. I don't want that."

"What..."

Izuru let out a deep breath. "Simple Renji. It's what you did with Rukia and you grew up with her and knew her longer then us."

"Yes... but..."

"Isn't the Shiba clan involves with the Rukongai?" Sojiro then placed a piece of fish into his mouth.

"Yes... but... status."

"Kaien-dono says that status would mean nothing." Momo looked down at the ground. "He made that promise."

"Yeah... but it is still two different worlds."

Izuru set his eating utensils down. "It's not that way with the Shiba clan. You yourself have seen how they've acted differently then the other noble families. It... I think it is a good idea. I mean... if you wanted to, you wouldn't _have_ to become a Shinigami even, or you could request that you be in the reserves."

"Are you saying I wouldn't be able to cut it?"

Sojiro let out a laugh. "No. Think of it this way. At this point in time you want to spend time with your little brother, at least until he gets a little better right? You'll want to help him settle in to his new home and get used to the new additions to your family, right?"

Momo looked up at Renji. "You and I will still be friends and speak with each other. Things won't change between us like they did you and Rukia? Please? I can't accept their request unless I know you will make and keep said promise."

The red head looked away. "Well... someone will need to keep that perverted uncle of yours away from you, right?"

"Thank you..." The girl paused, clapping a hand over her mouth. "This doesn't though settle the problem of what division you all will go in."

"I'm thinking tenth. While I won't be able to see you as much as in the thirteenth division there is the fact that both of the divisions have members of the Shiba clan. Plus, I feel like I'm needed in that division and there is a spot for rising up in the ranks."

"That's morbid." The blond shook his head. "An academy student like us shouldn't be thinking about how they can advance. There are so many that are so much better then us."

"I made up my mind a long time ago that I would eventually become a captain rank Shinigami. Actually, I decided upon that long before I joined the academy. I like the personality of the tenth division taicho."

Izuru shook his head. "He is rumored to be a pervert you know."

"Yes... well... I'll deal with that when the time comes. Hopefully I won't."

Renji let out a sigh. "Thirteenth."

"But you wanted to go into the eleventh."

"Yes... well... I made a promise and that's the best way to keep it."

The blond opened his mouth. "I... you both picked different ones."

"You don't have too."

"Then I think I will join the thirteenth as well."


	33. Crazy Mind

Isshin sat in his office staring up at the ceiling, his feet propped up on the desk. His arms were crossed behind his head and he found himself staring at the ceiling in a bored manner. Someone's voice caused him to look suddenly to the door to see who had entered the office. "Are you slaking off on your job again nii-sama?"

"I already finished. Now I'm just bored."

Kaien came over and sat on the edge of the desk. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"You know my ears are always open but you know full well that I may not be able to keep a secret."

"It's not really a secret." The other young man looked up at the ceiling as well. "Miyako and I have been talking a lot since the kid ended up at our door."

"Yeah... the two of you have been wanting to adopt the kid because you two haven't been able to have one of your own."

"Well... you already know that. We're actually considering on adopting both. We aren't ready to tell her or the boy yet but Miyako and I have made up our mind on this. Since you are the head of our clan I am going to follow procedure and ask for permission."

Isshin's lips pushed out into a pout. "Oi... you should know that you don't have to ask permission."

"We'll be need you to help us with the paperwork. You know how long it can take."

The older brother rolled his eyes. "Ahh man! You know how much I hate paperwork!"

"Isshin..."

"Well... I'll be getting a cute little niece and a cute little nephew out of it so I'll put up with it." The man then paused for a few minutes. "Wait... they are cute, right?"

"Isshin..." Kaien moved then from the desk and simply left leaving Isshin to his own. The man looked up at the ceiling. " _I miss Ran-chan. I wish Gin would come and visit but he hasn't been around since she died. I kind of wish he would come around. I also have to think about getting a new fukutaicho. I'm not looking forward to this."_

"I know. I'll go to the thing at the school and meet my niece. How though will I know it's her. Ah well... I guess I'll just wing it." The man stood up and walked out the door and found the Shinigami he had placed in charge of the task. "Guess what. That thing I assigned you?" The member of his division looked at him. "You know... the thing at the academy? Well... I decided I'll do it! So I'm off."

He left his division member there staring at him, blinking a couple of times before shaking his head at them. He headed towards the academy and on his way he saw the taicho of the fifth division and purposefully shunpooed into the man, knocking the man to the ground. "Hello Sosuke!"

The fifth divsiion taicho pushed the tenth division taicho off of him. "Exactly what are you doing?"

"I'm going to the academy." Isshin swung his fingers around in a heart shape causing the man to simply stare at him before getting up and heading on his way. "Hey! Wait! We're going in the same direction!"

"Why exactly is the head of the Shiba clan choosing to go and help with this."

The younger Shinigami snickered. " _He thinks I'm a pervert the old fool._ "

"Not to offend here, but normally you're goofing off like Gin-kun is."

" _Yeah... and I wasn't goofing off just then. Oh... wait. He means that me actually taking on the duties of being a taicho instead of goofing off._ " Isshin waved his finger in the air. "How much longer are you going to be calling Gin-chan that?"

"Ah... yes. His promotion to captain rank is soon."

Isshin began to chat with the man, a smile on his face as he enjoyed acting like a goofball. " _Better then thinking about all the bad stuff that goes on in life really._ " He continued to speak to the man in a convoluted manner. They each took their places at the long table. A sudden bright idea popped into his head as he saw Nanao come into the room. "Hey! Juushi-chan! Good morning too you!" He then turned to look at Aizen. "See... I don't flirt with everyone!"

A bunch of girls began to giggle as he sat down and they continued to giggle as he continued his actions. His zampaktuo let out a deep sigh. " _Look... you need to behave yourself as your cute little cousin said._ "

" _Yeah... but girls know to stay away from a pervert and I don't have to worry about any intimate relationships with a female that leads to some... well, really weird sistuations._ "

" _You mean like walking in on your future sister-in-law with the top of her clothing off and running out of the room screaming your head off?_ "

" _Yup._ "

" _You do realize that those two things have nothing to do with each other. How is it that your twin brother who graduated at the same time as you is able to grasp this concept and you're not._ "

" _Don't know. Females are strange creatures._ "

" _Does that include Unohana? And do you realize that you said that out loud to someone asking you a question?_ "

" _Ehh... what was the question?_ "

" _You know what it was! The question was what kind of food does the tenth division seve._ "

" _Well... they kind of deserve that kind of answer for that kind of question._ "

"Kaien-dono?" Momo blinked a couple of times.

" _It's her! I can't believe I was actually able to figure it out!_ "

" _Don't..._ "

The zampaktuo was not able to say anything as Isshin proceeded to scoop the girl up and hug her. "No! It's oji-chan Isshin!"

" _You're dead._ "

" _Huh..._ "

" _She doesn't know what you're talking about._ "

" _Oopsie..._ "

" _And you're not even high on sugar. You're also just rattling stuff off now."_

" _Random stuff... I'll give you random stuff!_ " Isshin found himself inwardly giggling like a school girl knowing full well that him actually giggling like that as well as what he was going to do would really irritate Kaien. "Hey, did you know that Kaien met Miyako by walking in on her naked during a physical?"

" _You didn't."_

" _I did!"_

They finally left and another young man came up to him. "How do you see a real lady naked?"

"It is best to know now what you don't know but what you should avoid."

" _Wow... you just told him that he should be careful while spying on girls and make sure he didn't get caught. We both know though you meant that it's best to not ever know what a naked lady looks like._ "

" _I'm pretending that I never saw my sister-in-law half naked thank you very much._ " Finally the whole thing ended and he found himself walking away with Aizen and answering something but he really didn't care what.

**M**

It was a few days later that a soft drizzle fell outside of the tenth division and Kaien came and got him to help with something. He found himself not liking the fact he was causing the small child to skitter under the bed but knew full well that Unohana was in on the whole thing. That meant there was some direction this was going. He sat their waiting, knowing full well that Miyako also didn't know what was going on.

It was then that Kaien came back with Gin and things went to hell. At least that was how he felt things were. " _Why didn't he tell me that he suspected that Gin was the child's father, or that Ran was the mother. They're my fukutaicho and my little buddy. Actually... it's really weird thinking of my little buddy and my little fukutaicho... eww... eww..._ "

" _Thank you for keeping a straight face on that one."_

Isshin waited until Gin had left the room and turned to where Miyako was sitting with the child. "So... does this mean that he won't run from me?"

"I don't..." Toshiro suddenly lurched and looked up at him as if he would bolt. The child's body shook and the tenth division taicho took a deep breath. Miyako lowered her head to try and comfort the boy. "Perhaps you should go."

"Ah... oh, wait. I know." Isshin pulled on the corners of his mouth and stuck out his tongue. As he began to wiggle his tongue up and down he rolled his eyes up into the back of his head. He watched as the boy at first looked at him with wide eyes and a frown but then a grin spread across the child's face. "Hah, you... owe I bit my tongue."

Miyako suddenly laughed. "That serves you right for doing what you were doing Isshin."

The sound of Kaien coming back caused the man to look up. Isshin moved to the side and pulled back the covers. "Come on Shiro-chan, cute little Shiro-chan. Get into bed so Miyako-chan can sing you a song."

Toshiro blinked a couple of times before walking over to the bed and climbing in, allowing the man to pull the overs over the child. He then stood up and walked over to Kaien. "We need to talk."

"You do realize that this isn't his room." Isshin grabbed Kaien's uniform and dragged him back to the room he knew to be Toshiro's. Pausing he looked at the wall before tossing Kaien onto the bed. "Why? Why did you have to do that to Gin?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know how hard it is on him not to hold his own child? No... I guess not because you don't have any and I honestly can't know because I don't have any. But he's not hiding Toshiro for just no reason Kaien. He trusted you to take care of Toshiro _without_ digging into things, but you go and make it so that they have to interact."

"We needed to confirm something."

"You did _not_ need to confirm _anything_." Isshin poked his finger into his brother's chest. "That was low... and I know just how dark and depressing that mind of yours can get, how morbidly twisted it can be. I know because I have to deal with that dark, depressing feeling at times as well. Why did you have to go and do that to Gin?"

"Well... you're speaking normally." Kaien looked away. "I spoke with Unohana about this and she agreed with me. If she didn't..."

The finger poked two hard times into the others chest. "I _want_ an explanation."

"We wanted to confirm something and it was confirmed by Gin being in the room. Well... it wasn't really one thing. I mean, we did confirm that Gin was his father. But that wasn't what this was about."

" _What_ was this about?"

"I wanted more information on the kid."

"He's not something that you can throw away because you find out there is something not so nice about him you know!"

"That's not why I was getting the information!" Kaien took a deep breath. "Look... the only male he's ever come out around before Gin came into the room was gramps. Even then he had to send his fukutaicho out of the room. When Gin was in the room though Toshiro was able to be out near us and not care that we were anywhere near him. This is also the first time any of us have heard him speak."

"So?"

"So? One of the things we've been worried about what how severe his inability to speak was. But that wasn't the only thing." The younger twin turned his head towards the mural. "This isn't exactly normal. You yourself took notice when you came into the room. I wanted to know how Gin felt about this particular part and if he was concerned I wanted him to have his concerns put to rest."

"Again... so?"

"I was actually surprised to find out that he wasn't at all surprised. He'd actually gone into the boy's inner world and interacted with his zampaktuo."

This comment from Kaien caused Isshin to turn his head towards the mural. He then stepped over and touched the mural with his fingers, frowning as he did so. His zampaktuo spoke then. " _You know of this one from the records. Does Gin know that this is in the records?_ "

" _How could he not._ " Isshin carefully examined the mural, kneeling down in front of it. "You still could have given me a heads up."

"Well, just to give you a heads up. Toshiro can't see Gin anymore. At least not until Gin finishes what he needs to do."

"And how long will that take."

"For some reason he believes that Ran-chan is alive."

Isshin flinched. He turned to look at his brother. "That can't be."

"There was no body."

"And he wants me to but out?" Isshin pointed a finger at his chest. "Ran-chan's my little sister. I can't..."

"Neither one of us can do anything so you might as well back off."


	34. Different Mind

The taicho of the tenth division let out a deep breath. His zampaktuo spoke then. " _You should apologize to your brother._ "

" _Kaien didn't tell me what was going on. He left me out of the loop!_ "

" _That's because he can't trust you to keep a secret. Look at the fact you told Momo to call you uncle despite the fact she didn't yet know about your brother and sister-in-law's plans to adopt the two children. You also blurted out how Kaien and Miyako met._ "

" _This is different. He should know that he can trust me on these kind of thing._ "

" _Your track record stinks like sulfur. And by the way... they're introducing Gin as the captain of the third today._ "

Isshin stood up, letting out a deep sigh. He walked to the first division and went into the meeting hall. He slipped into his spot. Kyoraku raised an eyebrow at the young taicho. "Something the matter Isshin?"

"Something..." The young man blinked a couple of times and switched from his serious mode of demeanor to the hyper active personality mode. "Nope! I was just thinking!"

"You know... you switch between serious and... not sure what I would call it... rather fast. A reminder here... don't goof off around the old man."

"Yes sir."

"And by the way." Kyoraku held up his thumb. "Nanao-chan came home ranting about your behavior. Nice job getting her going." The thumb then turned down. "Bad job on going a bit overboard."

The man suddenly felt a clipboard hit the top of his head. "I'm right here you know. You really shouldn't encourage your nephew in such a manner."

Isshin let out a sigh as Ukitake came into the room. "Good afternoon kind uncle."

The man looked up before suddenly chuckling. "Shiba Isshin... when you say stuff like that people are going to wonder if you are up to something."

Kaien looked away with a rather irritated look on his face before going and kneeling on the ground behind his captain.

"I'm not. Honest! If you want to ask anyone it should be Gin. He's always up to something " Isshin found himself thinking inwardly. " _Wonder how he's doing after what Kaien did. It's been a few days._ "

The other members began to gather as did their fukutaicho. Yamamoto came in and stood at the front, his arms going behind his back. "I now introduce you to the new captain of the third division, Ichimaru Gin."

The man bowed to the other captains before taking his position. Aizen spoke up then. "Now you just have to pick a fukutaicho for yourself."

Gin's smile suddenly twisted into a frown. Kenpachi scratched his head. "Why not pick that kid in the forth division?"

"Speaking of which, how long will that child be in the chair of the forth division. The last time I checked it was not the job of the forth division to care for those from the Rukongai with mental problems."

Isshin felt himself look at the man with eyes wide. " _That stuck up bastard."_

"Wait..." Isshin blinked a couple of times, his eyes darting over to his brother who had also spoken at the same time. "I mean to say..."

Yamamoto raised an eyebrow. "Since Shiba Taicho is of the higher rank I'll let him speak first."

Isshin took a deep breath. "What my brother and I were both trying to say was that my brother and sister-in-law are planning on adopting the child and his older sister as his own."

Ukitake frowned. "You two do understand what that will take?"

Byakuya looked at Isshin. "What is so special about this child?"

"Special?" Isshin stopped short.

"Well... there was that rumor about the child drawing his zampaktuo onto the wall." Silence fell over the room at Mayuri's statement. "I think the child would make for a wonderful experiment."

"You..." Kaien opened his mouth.

A sudden fiery flare came over the room and everyone's heads turned towards Yamamoto. "The child is in no condition at this time to become a shinigami. I will also not allow you to experiment on the child. This is not a topic we should be discussing."

Isshin let out a sigh as they were dismissed from the room. He walked up to Gin and clapped him on the back. "Congratulations! Now we just need to get Kaien to learn Bankai, right?"

Gin flinched upon being touched. His eyes darted around the room but he finally let out a deep sigh. "I'm kind of tired."

"It wouldn't..." Isshin stopped short before leaning forward and whispered into the man's ear. "It wouldn't have to do with the boy?"

"No..." Gin kept his voice down.

The tenth division taicho slapped him on the back. "Now come on! We all know that you miss Ran-chan! Don't deny it."

"I really am tired."

Isshin let out a deep sigh. Kaien walked up to him. "Of all things... that being brought up."

The older twin blinked a couple of times. "You aren't mad at me?"

"What ever for?"

"We haven't exactly been talking. I don't remember the last time we haven't talked." Isshin's lips pouted out.

Kaien blinked a couple of times. "You're referring to the fact we had a misunderstanding the other day?"

"I'm still mad that..."

"Can it Isshin." The fukutaicho of the thirteenth flicked his brother on the forehead.

Ukitake let out a deep sigh. "Now, now you two. I don't like it when the two of you act like this. You're honestly supposed to be adults now. After Ran died the two of you really didn't have time to grieve. Both of you have your duties to take care of and then the boy showed up. By the way, what is the child's name?"

"It's Hitsugaya Toshiro." Kaien frowned at his taicho while folding his arms.

"Well... my first piece of advice is to take a vacation the both of you. It's been awhile since the two of you just took some time off to yourselves. You should also tell your other siblings about your plan."

Isshin frowned. "What is your other piece of advice?"

"The chid's hair is white?"

"Yes..." Kaien frowned at the man.

"I'd like to be the boy's Godfather once he's adopted. Apparently we both have white hair and have white in our names."

The twins looked at each other before letting out a laugh.


	35. Different Norm

Hanataro followed Isane back from the academy, his mouth twisting up. "Perhaps I should think about going through the academy."

"It's not as if there are many Shinigami around your age though."

The young male frowned. "I've tried talking to people my age to see if they wanted to become a Shinigami."

"How did that go?"

"I got a black eye."

Isane remained silent as they walked along. "There is a little boy in the forth division who is a little bit younger then you."

"I heard about him." Silence fell between the two as they continued to walk. Hantaro spoke again. "I thought males couldn't go near him."

"Unohana thinks that it's adult males that he can't stand to be around. He actually interacted very well with the head captain when he came to visit. It was actually kind of cute."

A frown spread across Hanataro's face. "Isane... I thought you said that he was just a little younger then me?"

"He..." It was the tall fukutaicho's turn to frown. "He's not talked since he was brought in, but according to his little sister he in fact did talk before he was beaten up by those adult men. Unohana thinks that if you could interact with him it would do him some good.'

"I think I would rather have a friend my actual age." The boy looked at the ground.

"Well... his sister is around your age I think."

"You said it was his little sister." The boy looked at her then pointed his finger. "Wait! You called her his little sister because she's smaller then you!"

"Nothing of the sort." Isane's cheeks blushed.

"So... when do I meet the kid."

"You'll have to ask Unohana."

Silence again fell over the two and the young Shinigami headed to where he knew the taicho would be. "Unohana Taicho?"

"Ah... you're back ninth seat Yamada Hanataro. Did you have fun?"

"Yes mam. Isane told me that you wished for me to meet the little boy we have in the forth division."

"Ah... yes. Hitsugaya Toshiro is his name. Meeting the child will have to be postponed as he is ill right now, but in a few days I hope to take you to meet him.

**M**

" _I expect he's this bouncy little kid who also enjoys gross things like most little kids... particularly males... like."_ The boy took a deep breath as he followed Unohana through the division to the room. As they came to the door he found himself blinking a couple of times upon seeing Miyako sitting there reading a book.

The next thing he saw was a child with stark white hair looking up at the ceiling, a teddy bear held high in the air. The child twitched the bear slightly so that it looked like it was moving it's arms and legs on its own. On top of this the boy didn't seem to notice that someone had entered the room which caused Hanataro to look at the wall.

A rather large dragon was on the wall and he found himself speaking then. "Did he paint that? That is amazing!" He hurried over to the wall, ignoring everything in the room and began to carefully examine the detail. "You know... for a little kid..." He moved slightly to the side, bumping into something. Looking down he saw that the boy had moved from the bed to the ground near him, a smile spread across his face. "This is pretty good."

He then found himself going into a similar position as the child and simply staring at the painting and enjoying it, his knees tucked up to his chest. He could hear his zampaktuo speak in the back of his head. " _He's nice_."

" _Yes. He is._ "

" _I bet his zampaktuo is nice despite being large and scary like that._ "

" _What do you mean?_ "

" _That thing on the wall is a zampaktuo spirit_."

" _Ah... he's pretty amazing._ " Hanataro's hand reached out to gently ruffle the boy's hair. "Yes... this really is amazing. I think the hip word for this would be 'cool man, cool'." Looking over he saw that the boy gave him a strange look. "Ahh... how to explain that one."

Hanataro then turned to the boy and began to explain about customs and cultures from the world of the living. After ranting for a good period of time he stopped short. "Um... do you understand what the difference between the world of the living and Soul Society is?" Upon receiving no answer he proceeded to explain that as well.

Despite flopping over onto his back to watch him, the boy continued to stare at the other boy and listen to everything he had to say. " _You know... this is kind of cool. Having someone to talk to. I know he may not understand what I'm saying, but I certainly enjoy the fact he's not judging me._ "

The boy stopped short, a sudden realization hitting him. "You... you were judged by other people, weren't you? I kind of know how that feels. Nobody wants to be my friend because I'm already a Shinigami. Some older men tried to beat you up. But you know what?" Hanataro held up his finger.

"There are a lot of people out there who like to hurt others, but there are a lot of other people out there who like to protect others. I like the idea of protecting people, though I'm not good at it. Part of it comes from the fact I don't like hurting people either."

"Yamada..." Hanataro turned his head to see that the blond haired third seat stick his head in. The sound of feet scurrying under the bed caused him to turn his head and frown at the other man. "You know... you're not supposed to be here."

"I don't understand why you're allowed to be here."

"Because Hanataro is not an adult male." Miyako let out a sigh. "Feel free to come back any time Hana-chan."

**M**

He found himself heading to the library to pick up some information books that other division members needed when an idea struck him. Walking over to the children's section the small division member pulled out a book he remembered his brother reading him when he was little. He then added it to the stack of books and headed to the counter and checked them all out.

Upon arriving at the division the other members hurried over and took their books away. The small Shinigami then headed back to the small room where the boy was lying on his stomach playing with a bear. Miyako stood up. "Why don't I leave the two of you alone."

This caused the boy to look up, a bit of panic in his face. Hanataro held out the book. "I brought a book to read to you." The boy blinked a couple of times as the boy's eyes widened. "Do you like books?" Slipping over to the bed he climbed in and watched as the boy suddenly latched to is side waiting for him to open the book. Taking a deep breath Hanataro started. "Once upon a time...'

He continued to read until Miyako's voice was heard. "You actually got him to touch you?"

"Toshiro-kun really likes books and being read too." Hanataro felt a smile spread across his face. "I also really like him. I honestly don't understand how anyone could beat him up. He's a very nice kid."

" _And very smart._ " His zampaktuo piped up despite the fact he honestly didn't know why.


	36. Pushing Norm

"You said that you wanted to see the child in the forth division?"

Aizen looked up from his desk to see Tosen in the doorway. If the man could see he would be looking at the taicho of the fifth division. "Yes... I take it that you have become interested in the child as well? I doubt there is anything worth seeing, but I would also like to know what kind of child he is. I may be wrong in the fact I can't manipulate him or even that he wouldn't be able to stand in the way."

"I'm more interested in whether or not the child is a pure being or not."

"I find you to be quite amusing." The taicho of the fifth division stood up and walked with the taicho of the ninth. They arrived at the forth division and the two moved through the halls. Their presence turned a few heads but no one bothered to ask why they happened to be there. He then headed down the hall that led to the room where the child was, noticing that no one was there to prevent people from going in that direction.

He then stopped in front of the door and saw that the child was being read to by the eighth seat of the forth division. The small boy watched as the page turned, a teddy bear clutched in his arms. The boy leaned up against the other and listened to the words as they rattled off. As the child's eye's watched the page turned, he caught sight of the two men and let out a frightened squeak.

The next thing the man knew the child was diving under the bed, taking the teddy bear with him. Hanataro looked up at the two men, frowning as he did so. "Apologies... Toshiro-kun is still not doing well around adult males."

"No need to apologize. I simply wished to see the boy. He has an interesting shade of hair, that boy does."

"It's kind of hard not to notice." Hanataro blinked a couple of times as he looked at Tosen. "Well... unless of course you can't see."

"It's all right. The child... what kind of personality does he have?"

Hanataro closed the book and placed it on the stand before twisting his body so that he was looking down at the boy. "I don't know. Timid?"

"That isn't much to go on." Tosen frowned at the older of the two boys.

"He's nice. I'm just getting to know him."

Aizen turned his head to look at the mural, taking in the creature that was sprawled across the wall. "That is a very nice painting."

"Toshiro-kun did that."

"I'm surprised that Unohana let him pain on the walls."

"Actually... she didn't. She brought him some paints and he was left unsupervised by the person who was watching him."

"Why would anyone leave him unsupervised?"

"I honestly don't know. I just know that neither one of them go in trouble. I think Unohana had it left up because she thinks it helps Toshiro-kun out."

Aizen looked at the wall. "Is that his zampaktuo spiritu?"

"That's what people guess."

"So he's never spoken."

"As far as I know, no." The boy sat up.

Aizen went down into a sitting position. "I wonder if he would like to see my shikai release." He titled his head so that he could see the boy. "Would you?" He watched as the child turned his head away in fright. Letting out a fake sigh he stood up. "Such a shame. He is a really cute child."

"You should probably leave. It takes time to get him out. At least I think it takes time. I've just taken on the duty of watching him so that Miyako and Isane can have a break. He seems to like me and doesn't laugh at me, but that's probably because he doesn't understand anything I say. I still like him."

"I completely understand. You are doing a very good job with him by the way." The two men then turned to leave.

Tosen spoke first. "So... what did you learn?"

"The child's not worth it either way."

"This is despite the fact he has painted his zampaktuo on the wall?"

"While his zampaktuo spirit looks amazing it is a mute point if the boy is unable to say the zampaktuo's name. And for all they know it may be some imaginary friend the child made up. The child is also small and can't compare to Gin."

"Yes... but Gin... how to describe him. He is not a pure one."

"I think that is what attracted me to that child and made me decide that he was worth using. It's the same reason that I find the Shiba twins to be a problem. This child though... there is nothing worth mentioning."

"I think the child is an interesting creature. He has quite the innocence about him."

"So... would you want him for your fukutaicho?"

"No. As you said there is no way that this child would be of no use. My interest in him does not lie in that manner but in the idea that this child remains simply a pure one. I think being adopted into the Shiba clan would do that, but you also aren't liking of the Shiba twins particularly the younger twin."

"I'm still deciding whether or not I find a way to get rid of him."

"I see that you didn't bring Gin along on this particular mission."

"Gin is busy getting used to his division and the members in said division. We could though stop by and see how he is doing."

"I honestly don't want to see how he is terrorizing his new division members thank you very much."


	37. Pushing Boundaries

"I'd like to be the boy's Godfather once he's adopted. Apparently we both have white hair and have white in our names."

Kaien and Isshin found themselves laughing at this statement from the thirteenth division taicho. When Ukitake though left the room, they found themselves looking at each other. Letting out a deep sigh they turned to walk with each other. Kaien frowned. "I'm honestly not sure if I need a vacation. Things are going fine."

"I honestly don't see a problem." Isshin crossed his arms behind his head. "I mean... everyday is a vacation for me."

Kaien stopped short, turning his head to look at the man. "See... that is what your problem is. You can't see that you have a problem with your work ethic."

"Work ethic? That's your problem. You don't know how to relax. You need to learn to relax."

"I know how to relax quite fine." Kaien folded his arms behind his head.

"Well... I'm going to go to the academy to talk to my niece." Isshin turned to walk in the direction of the academy.

"Hold it! She hasn't said yes yet!" Kaien grabbed the back of his brother's uniform. His older brother looked at him then with eyes wide and a pout on his face. "That isn't going to make me let you go."

"It's not?" Isshin blinked a couple of times before slipping out of his captain's haori and hurrying forward. "Hah! You need to learn to relax and not be such a big stick in the mud."

"Get back here!" The fukutaicho of the thirteenth swung the haori over his arm and hurried after his brother. He arrived at the academy to see his brother hunkering down outside of the girl's dorms. Kneeling down in front of him in a similar position he looked his twin in the eye with a glare. "What are you up too."

"Hey... I don't actually know her name or how to find her." Isshin clutched the knees of his pants while looking at his brother.

"Why are you _being_ so stupid. If you get caught out here you will be mistaken for a peeping tom and me with you."

"Well, that's not such a bad thing for me considering the reputation I happen to have and _want_ to have, but I can see how this would be a problem for you. Yes... it would be a problem for you in the fact you're not seen as a pervert and don't want the reputation of being a pervert."

"Would you just shut up already. Seriously..." Kaien turned his head and looked at the man, frowning as he did so. "Seriously... you need to grow up. Even uncle Kyoraku isn't that bad."

"Hey..." Issin raised a hand to his forehead. "I see something."

Kaien felt something brush by him and let out a sigh. He stood up and turned to see what this brother happened to see and felt his face twitch. Folding his arms he walked over to the place Isshin had shunpooed too and saw his brother was kneeling behind two academy students who were trying to peek into the dorm rooms.

"Yo! What are you doing?" Isshin's hand raised up in the air. The two kids turned to look at him, blinking a couple of times.

"Oh... you're the taicho of the tenth division."

"Yes..." The taicho blinked a couple of times. "Why?"

"You're the one who gave me the advice the other day to be sneaky in a way you can't get caught."

"What..." Isshin blinked a couple of times.

Kaien felt his face twitch some more. "You told him what?"

The taicho of the tenth turned his head towards his twin brother. "Honestly... it wasn't what you think."

"I'm sure it wasn't." The fukutaicho of the thirteenth tossed the haori he was carrying at his brother's head. "As for you two." The man's hand's reached down and grabbed the boy's ears and forced them to stand up. "Consider yourselves caught." A bunch of females screaming could be heard as Kaien came into view of the window with the two young men.

Isshin popped up then. "Hey... what's..."

Something came flying out of the window and hit him in the face, causing him to topple over backwards and let out a groan. Kaien's mouth twisted up into a frown while the two young men stared with their mouths open. He pulled them away and shoved them up against the wall. "Now see here! What do the two of you think you're doing!"

"We..."

"We wanted to see naked girls."

"Then join the forth!" Kaien folded his arms across his chest. "However! I doubt you would _last_ in the forth division with your uncouth behavior and you would get on the bad side of the captain of the forth division."

"Oh come on!"

"She's just a healer!"

"Actually... the entire eleventh division is afraid of Unohana." Isshin piped up from the ground. "You don't cross her unless you're a masochist. Then it is a lot of fun."

Kaien's mouth opened as he looked as his brother then shook his head and turned his attention back to the boys. "You two do know you're in a lot of trouble, right?"

"Well... can't you just let it go?"

"Yeah... I'm thinking that you two would be in a lot of trouble."

"No... we're the ones who caught you." Kaien took a deep breath.

"He was going to participate!" Both boy's pointed their fingers at Isshin.

"Never said such a thing. I have other things I planned on doing today! Like not getting in trouble!"

"Shut up." Kaien rolled his eyes. A couple of the academy instructors came then and the four found themselves being ushered into the academy heads office. Kaien sat with his arms folded while Isshin retained a goofy look on his face. They listened to the lecture that the academy head had about sneaking looks at the girls.

"But we got the idea from Shiba Taicho."

The academy head turned his head to glare at Isshin. "Yes... well... I am will hand that over to Ukitake and Kyoraku."

Kaien held back a snicker as his brother's face fell. The two young men were dismissed with the understanding that they would have to publicly apologize to the females involved in order to graduate. As they left a small female hurried into the room rather flustered. The academy head's eyebrows raised up as he looked at the female. "Hinamori-san."

Isshin's smile returned. "Hey! We were just coming to see you!"

"See me!" Momo turned to look at Kaien. "You saw me naked Kaien-dono!"

"What..." Kaien gave her a rather blank look.

"In the girls showers!" The small female pointed at Isshin. "And he told me you met Miyako-dono by seeing her naked during a physical!"

Kaien felt his mouth twitch. He quickly stood up and walked over to his brother. The side of his hand hit the tenth division taicho on the head causing the man to let out a yelp. He then proceeded to put Isshin into a head lock.

"You told her _what_? No... seriously! When you told her that did you _bother_ to tell her that the reason I _saw_ Miyako naked was because you ran out screaming from your first examination of a female patient? Have you told her that Unohana Taicho uses the threat of examining a female patient to get you to do what you want?"

"Yeah... but..."

"No buts! She uses that to get you to do what you want because if she causes you physical pain you actually enjoy it and that is how you get your sexual pleasure you moron! Did you have to tell her that when I specifically told you that Miyako and I've been trying to convince her to let us adopt her and her little brother!"

"I told her that because I kind of let it slip that I wanted her to call me uncle because I thought you had told her already."

"You moron!"

A sound came from the door but Kaien continued to place Isshin into a head lock without noticing the two people who had entered. Ukitake frowned at the two. "I told you... the two of you need to take a vacation. Go and visit your younger siblings. You two need a break."

Kyoraku let out a sigh. "Well... I've been interested in seeing my darling niece. Not so sure about my youngest nephew... but then again I won't be able to call him my youngest nephew if the adoption goes through."

Kaien stopped short and the two younger Shinigami turned to stare at the older ones. Momo blinked a couple of times. "You're also taicho."

"I'm Kyoraku Shunsui, the taicho of the eighth division and this is Ukitake Jushiro, taicho of the thirteenth division."

Ukitake smiled at the young lady. "I'd like to say they don't usually act like this, but they always act like this.

"But... Kaien-dono saw me naked." A few tears came to Momo's face.

"Ehh..." The young man waved his hand. "I'm still not sure what you're talking about.

Kyoraku gave Momo a smile. "While my eldest nephew may act like a pervert he's actually terrified about seeing a girl naked."

"I've seen little Kukaku naked many times. We still take baths together."

Isshin suddenly felt the grip on his neck tighten. "You moron!"

"And then there is Kaien. He's completely oblivious to such things." Kyoraku continued to smile at the girl. "I know that our family is rather crazy, but what do you say to becoming a part of our family with your little brother? The sooner you say yes the sooner we can get the process started and the sooner you two can be adopted."

Momo looked at the ground, her cheeks flushing. "Well... the answer is yes despite the fact I'm mad at Kaien-dono right now."

"Wait..." Kaien looked up. "What for."

This caused Kyoraku to go over and hit the fukutaicho of the thirteenth over the head with the side of his palm. "Appologize for seeing her naked."

"But I didn't. I..." The younger Shinigami took a deep breath before bowing his head to Momo. "I don't recollect seeing anyone naked but I do apologize none the less." He then stood up. "I also have the feeling though if you're mad at me for this the reason you're joining the family is because you are thinking about what is the best for your brother and not yourself."

Momo flinched before looking up at him with a smile. "I'm thinking of what is best for both of us."


	38. Nobel Boundaries

A female sat up on the roof of the Shiba clan estate feeling the wind as it blew past her face. The sound of movement from down below caused her too look down and a smile spread across her face. Jumping down she found herself hurrying over to the three males who approached the place. She flung herself at the eldest. "Uncle Sui!"

"Ahh, my darling Ku-chan!" The man staggered back as the female came into his arms, a smile on his face as he wrapped said arms around the young woman. He then set her down and rubbed a hand through her hair. "Perhaps though I shouldn't call you Ku-chan anymore as you have grown so much since I last saw you!'

"You got that right!"

Isshin's face twisted up into a pout. "But Ku-chan! What about me your eldest brother! Why don't you great me?"

The female let out a deep breath before going to hug the taicho of the tenth, her arms wrapping around his neck. "It's nice to see you o-nii-sama and nii-sama."

Kaien turned his head to look at the two and watched as his twin brother suddenly froze, his mouth twitching. "What ever is the matter?"

The eldest of the Shiba sibling's eyes began to water. "I can't take baths with Ku-chan anymore! She grew boobies!"

Isshin suddenly found a knee in his stomach as well as the side of a palm on the top of his head, each done by a different sibling. Kukaku frowned at her brother. "What is this about me still taking baths with you? Do you even know how old I am nii-sama? I'm Ran-chan and Gin-kun's age. Where are they. Usually you bring them to visit as well. And where is Miyako nee-san?"

Kyoraku frowned. "You two _didn't_ tell her about Ran-chan? I thought you would have. Sometimes despite being geniuses you two can be complete morons."

Kukaku folded her arms. " _What_ is going on?"

"Ran died." Isshin pouted at his sister.

"You guys are morons for not telling us. What else aren't you telling us." The female of the Shiba clan began to walk back to their home. "No... seriously... are you going to tell me that Miyako nee-san is dead too?"

"Ukitake is sending a message for her to join us. This was kind of unplanned." Kaien frowned. "You seem to be taking this a bit to well. I mean... the news of Ran's death."

His sister turned towards him, a frown on her face. "I refuse to cry in front of people. You of all people should know that. I'll cry in my room later. I'll tell Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko that we need food prepared and they'll tell the servants. She continued to walk away from them, her mouth pushed together.

The sound of someones feet came pounding across the wooden floor. "Nii-sama!" A boy stopped short as he looked at the two Shinigami in front of him. "Um... which one of you is Shi-nii and which one of you is Kai-nii?"

The two younger male stopped short as the stared at the boy. Kyoraku chuckled. "You can't tell? I mean, their should be an obvious difference between the two."

"What, I can't tell."

The two twins followed behind Kyoraku. Isshin turned his head and looked at Ganju while he pointed at his haori and Kaien pointed to his fukutaicho badge. "It's the hair."

"Oh... I see! Shi-nii's is all nice and straight while Kai-nii's is spiked."

Kaien's hand came down on the boy's head. "Try again!"

"Ow! That hurt!"

They then headed into the room for eating and sat down on the pillows, both relaxing and leaning back on their arms in a similar manner. Kyoraku of course lay on the floor, his hat tipping over his eyes. Eventually Miyako came into the room and sat down, leaning on her husband as she did so. The two whispered a few things to each other before becoming quite.

Kukaku came into the room. "We bring you the food!"

Ganju came hurtling into the room. "Good! I'm getting hungry!"

Kukaku tripped the boy, causing him to fall onto the floor. "Mind your manners!"

"Come sit. There is something Kaien and I have to tell you two."

The two younger siblings sat on the pillows, Kukaku in a relaxed sitting manner while Ganju flopped onto his back. The boy spoke up. "Yeah... what do you have to tell us."

"Kukaku's going to be an aunt and Ganju is going to be an uncle." Miyako smiled at the youngest two.

Kukaku's eyebrows rose up, while the youngest rolled over onto his stomach. "Wait..."

The youngest Shiba female let out a sigh. "Boy or girl."

"Both..."

"Twins..."

"Wait..." Isshin blinked a couple of times. "Ganju... I think you have a misunderstanding..."

The boy turned to the wall and began to mutter to himself. Kukaku shook her head. "You two are adopting, aren't you."

"Yes..." Miyako placed her hands on her lap. "It will be awhile until the adoption goes through, but there will be two children added to the family."

"Could you bother _not_ trying to explain this one to Ganju?" Kukaku pointed a finger at her chest. " _I'll_ explain it to him. I mean, by the time we see you again we'll be meeting them and we'll also find ourselves seeing the two of you more often if not all three of you." The girl smiled. "But most of all congratulations are in order. Does this mean we can bring out the sake?"

Isshin pointed his finger at Kukaku. "You're not old enough to drink in non celebratory manor!"

The girl looked at the tenth division taicho, frowning as she did. "He doesn't get it, does he?"

"He hasn't exactly been here to watch you grow up and sense of time has not been nii-sama's strong suit." Kaien shook his head at the girl. "Also... I don't think he wants to admit that you're growing up. You were the first baby born after us so he got you as his." The fukutaicho of the thirteenth took his thumb and pointed it at Ganju. "I got stuck with that thing as my baby sibling."


End file.
